


WestWorld

by BleedingCoffee



Series: Trope Bingo: Round 13 [2]
Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: M/M, Modern Western AU, Mystery, Trope Bingo Round 13, Western
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-01-25 20:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 64,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21362140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedingCoffee/pseuds/BleedingCoffee
Summary: U.S. Marshall Jack Carter enters the wild west theme park WestWorld in order to track down his daughter and the computer programmer she's accompanying.   He finds himself in an artificial world populated by AI robots, wary of the humans working in the park trying to protect the company who owns it, and eager to get answers from the creator of it all: Nathan Stark.
Relationships: Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Series: Trope Bingo: Round 13 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556284
Comments: 122
Kudos: 42
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Thirteen





	1. Welcome to the Wild Wild West

**Author's Note:**

> It was the perfect AU setting for Nathan Stark--, a theme park filled with AI robots. It's also nice to have U.S. Marshall Carter do his Marshall thing too. ;)
> 
> Prompt fill for my Trope Bingo: Round 13 card- "Historical". It's also a new story that will be smaller chapters and less heavy than the last one I posted. Time for some fun on the Oregon Trail!

_WestWorld_

Chapter 1

**Welcome to the Wild Wild West**

* * *

“I don't understand why I can't be Sheriff.” Jack Carter said with a playful smile. “I mean, this is supposed to be a fantasy game, right? I should be able to pick my identity.”

“That position is already held by our own head of Global Dynamics Security, Jo Lupo, for the safety and well being of our guests.” Allison Blake answered and couldn't help but smile at him. He was cute and flirty, but she wasn't allowing it to lower her defenses. She turned up her own charm to see if she could lower his. “Besides, choosing the role you want is for _paying_ customers.”

Jack winced as he looked down at the pamphlet advertising “WestWorld” and it's various vacation packages and 'experiences'. All way _way _above his annual salary for just a weekend excursion into this amusement park of robots dressed up like cowboys. “Well, the U.S. Marshall service appreciates your cooperation on this matter.”

“And we appreciate your discretion while you are in WestWorld. Our customers come here to live out their fantasies and it in no way reflects their actions in the real world.” Allison said and handed him an old west U.S. Marshall badge. “I also appreciate you understanding our need to advertise you as a lawman in our simulation. The A.I.s will lock on to the chip in your badge and be available for questions as if you were one of the programmers. The badge also gives our customers a chance to not incriminate themselves for acts in _a simulation_.”

“Yeah, well...” Jack picked up the old badge that looked like it was out of one of the western movies he watched growing up. He couldn't say he was upset about this, as a kid he always dreamed about riding with the legends of the Marshall Service. “I guess I don't have to worry about getting my story straight while I'm in the old west, huh?”

“Exactly.” Allison said and watched him run his finger over the etching on the badge, it meant something to him. This was a good man trying to do his job, but she needed him to understand that in WestWorld fantasy did not translate to reality. 

“Well, perhaps you'll get _your_ story straight.” Jack said and looked up at the beautiful and obviously competent woman who was doing her best to customer service him into not asking too much more. He was here for answers though, and to find his daughter. “Exactly how did this Callister Raynes smuggle a underage girl into your little western town? I don't buy that he hacked in. I've seen your screening processes. I've seen your security. This place is top-notch.”

“He used to work here.” Allison said honestly. She was expecting it, Carter had a sharp eye and her quick bit of background checking while he waited for her in her office served up a plethora of information about his career. He was good at what he did. She folded her hands and set them on the desk, the more information he had the sooner he would be done. Finding Raynes would benefit them both, mainly because she suspected this worldwide glitch in the simulation was because of Callister. Why not let the Marshall do his job and hunt the fugitive? “One of our best computer programmers, actually. He worked alongside the company founder and WestWorld designer, Nathan Stark. He was his assistant.”

“Ok, then I need to talk to Stark.” Jack said.

“His lab is in the simulation.” She said. “Has been for years. He works on-site improving the A.I.s and feels the best way to do that research is in their world. You'll find him in an abandoned warehouse in the town of Eureka.”

Jack watched her stand, signaling this meeting was over. He felt like he was getting some quest in a video game. He just hoped this wasn't real life Oregon Trail and he wasn't going to find out people could die of dysentery in there. Jack stood up. “Why would Raynes come back here? You said he was Stark's assistant, so why did he leave?”

“A difference of opinion.” Allison said and walked to the door and opened it, inviting the Marshall to follow her to the first floor where he would be dressed and prepared for his journey. “Our A.I.s are renewable resources, sometimes the programmers and scientists get attached. It's hard on them, seeing them killed and destroyed and then rebooted. They pour a lot of their time and creativity into crafting the most realistic A.I.s as well as the character's background and the narratives. Callister destroyed Nathan's lab when he left and set us back years in research and development of the new 2.0 models. They were too human for his liking.”

“Oh.” Jack said and got up and followed her down the hall. He had a bad feeling about this. Zoe had hooked up with some activist who felt like robots had human rights and now they were back in the world where all those robots were blown up and killed daily. This was going to be hard to save her from if they destroyed the place--identity theft was minor compared to the charges that she would be facing for sabotaging a company as big as Global Dynamics. How in the hell did his delinquent daughter go from impersonating flight attendants to becoming a 'robot rights' activist? He followed Dr. Blake down the hall and to the elevator trying to keep his emotions in check. “So how will I know who is human and who is a robot?”

“Taggart.” She said in greeting and as an answer as the Aussie came down the hall towards them. He was dressed in his usual western scout gear, making him less intimidating than his security team camo.

“Hey mate, I hear you're the new Marshall in town.”

Jack snorted with amusement. “Yeah, I guess I won't have a problem. That's accent is obviously fake.”

“Fake?” Taggart said and narrowed his eyes at him. “I'll have you know...”

“He's human.” Allison informed the Marshall who then grimaced with embarrassment. “He's your guide once you get in the program. He'll show you to Dr. Stark's lab.”

“Oh, OK.” Jack said and realized this was his supervision. He felt bad about the fake accent thing, but the guy smiled and seemed to not let the insult linger. 

“Stark, huh?” Taggart grinned. “If you think my accent is fake, wait til you get an eyeful of his abs!”

“Excuse me?” Jack asked.

“Glorious! Absolute perfection! Sometimes nature is more perfect than any artificial, man-made model.” Taggart said with a wink.

“I'm not meeting him for a date, I'm interviewing him on the whereabouts of a fugitive I'm hunting.” Jack informed him. Although his Google research had yielded plenty of photos of the guy and he was well aware he was a good looking man. Almost too good looking to be real. 

“That's good, real convincing.” Taggart said.

“It's _the truth._” Jack said and pulled out his real Marshall badge and flashed his service weapon in his shoulder holster. “I'm a _real_ U.S. Marshall.”

“Very in character! Good job! Let's go get you dressed then. Although you'll have to put all those personal belongings in a locker, especially the gun. No real guns, only our custom Colt Peacemakers.” Taggart said and grinned. “Better hurry up, the train leaves in twenty minutes.”


	2. There's a New Sheriff In Town

_WestWorld_

Chapter 2

**There's a New Sheriff in Town**

* * *

Jack couldn't help but enjoy the train ride, it was an absolutely incredible set up for a trip back in time. It was just a half an hour journey into the heart of the park, but it really did a great job putting you in the mindset to enter the old west. All the passengers were dressed in period attire and the train car was authentic down to the uncomfortable seats and vintage textile trimmings. Windows rattled and the clicky-clack of the tracks became a calming rhythm just as they came around a bend and the expanse of the park was revealed.

It was incredible. There was nothing modern for as far as the eye could see.

He was curious if any of the people on the passenger car were robots, but he didn't have Taggart to ask because the guy was back in the cargo car with livestock. He wasn't upset about that. The guide was super enthusiast about some robotic geese he was planning to release today and Jack already had his fill of being honked at.

By the time the trained pulled into the station, he could safely say the development team had done a great job of making them leave their lives and the real world behind. It felt like they truly did come to a new reality and he could tell everyone was eager to embrace it. His eyes, however, needed to remain focused on his mission. Especially because he finally grasped that this wasn't going to be an easy, kick down the doors, manhunt. This place was a world in itself and his quarry could be anywhere.

He stepped off the train and onto the platform, straightened out his vintage trousers and coat and adjusted the gun belt on his hip. He grudgingly put his cowboy hat on his head, never one to be fond of anything more than a baseball cap, and took it all in as passengers disembarked the train. He looked at the depot as he walked by it, there were wanted posters on the depot wall, a recruitment poster for the Cavalry and a train schedule and ticket window. He assumed that was for people who determined they didn't want to leave, as there was a line. A few people greeted him with a tip of their hat and mumbled “Marshall” as he made his way around the small depot and got a glimpse of the town. The little boy inside him kept screaming about 'how cool' this all was and he had to admit it was incredible.

“Marshall!” Taggart walked up and nudged his companion with a grin. “This way to the Sheriff's office. You should introduce yourself to Sheriff Lupo, she'll be expecting you and you don't want her to come looking for you.”

“She?” Jack asked. He thought the Sheriff was _Joe_ Lupo. Must have been Jo. Dr. Blake set him up to walk in here and piss off her female head of security by looking for a man. So much for the warm welcome to explore the park. He barely avoided being hit with a wooden crate of geese as Taggart swung to his right and went to the stairs.

“Yes indeed.” Taggart and his grin broadened. He trotted down the stairs and pointed his crate of honking geese at the Hotel. “That's where you'll stay if you want a soft bed. Sarah is the owner. She'll get you set up with whatever comforts you need.”

“OK.” Jack said and looked at all the storefronts and buildings. It was a really amazing place, the detail was outstanding. His eye had been honed over the years to pick up on the little things: important locations, condition of the town's Main Street so he could gauge economic factors, and the way the people interacted in public. He learned to read places and people, part self-preservation and part planning his own attitude and approach. He was getting a warm and friendly welcome, it was supposed to put him at ease, but only made him more aware that he had to be careful here.

“Cafe Diem is the restaurant in the hotel, great food.” Taggart pointed to the left. “The General Store, you'll find supplies and clothes if you need it. Callie is the owner.”

“Sure.” Jack saw a nice looking lady on the sidewalk and she waved at him. He wondered if she was a robot. “Where is the gun store, in case I want something more than a revolver?”

“Jo.” Taggart said. “She controls all guns in town.”

“Not very Western.” Jack said.

“Not everyone is comfortable with firearms, Marshall. It's best for our guests.” Taggart said and then jumped onto the sidewalk and waved at the man standing in front of the Sheriff's office. Feathers went everywhere. “Ask Deputy Andy!”

“Hello Marshall Carter, welcome to Westworld. How can I assist you today?” Deputy Andy said and his grin froze on his face.

“Oh, definitely a robot.” Jack said as he guy immediately creeped him out.

“I'm a 1.0 model. One of the very first created. You'll find that my overbearing friendly personality is more in line with what you'd expect from a stereotypical Hollywood style android.” Andy informed him.

“Or a stereotypical Hollywood Canadian.”

“Bonjour! Je m’appelle Andy. ”

“That's cute.” Jack said. “So, you're the 1.0 model? The reason Callister Raynes set fire to Stark's lab and left? You're the military version he didn't want to see shipped off in a box?”

“No. That would be the Sheriff.” Andy said.

“What?” Jack asked. Was he glitching or just redacting information on the fly? “Sheriff Lupo is the reason he destroyed the research?”

“No Sheriff _Cobb_.” Andy said. “Sheriff Lupo's predecessor. He suspected something and was investigating. Dr. Raynes was working on placing restrictions in the code that could not be removed with formatting unless the AI was completely destroyed. He tested it on some models in town.”

“How did that go?” Jack asked. So Callister....didn't want the new owners having complete control over the robots. He wanted to treat them like proprietary software. _Huh_. That was interesting.

“_My _predecssor, the original Deputy Andy, was allowed to make his own decisions and walked off the job.” Andy laughed. “No more free will for us! No more Deputy Andy, he burned up in the fire when Sheriff Cobb went looking for him.”

“What now?” Jack said and then looked over as a young woman emerged from the building. She was beautiful but had that small but scrappy look to her. He saw the Sheriff's star on her long coat and said, “Sheriff Lupo, I presume?”

“Marshall.” She made a gesture to the door. “Come in.”

Jack was glad for the opportunity to talk to someone else human in law enforcement. Andy gave him a really creepy happy grin and wave as he followed her into the building. However he was getting a feel for Callister Raynes and that was why he was here. “So, is that the kind of reaction all the robots will have to my badge. Or rather the chip in my badge?”

“Not all of them will be so weird about it.” Jo said and went to her desk. “There's coffee over there if you want it.”

“Thanks.” Jack said and helped himself. “So...I can expect cooperation from everyone on my investigation? More than cryptic answers?”

“I didn't say that.” Jo watched him as he poured his coffee.

Jack looked over his shoulder at her. “Can I count on _your_ cooperation?”

“I work for GD, Marshall, not you.” She said. “It doesn't mean that I'm one of Stark's lackeys who jump when he says jump, it just means I do my job to protect WestWorld and the people in it. I'm Sheriff and head of GD Security. I keep things under control and safe. I do my job and you get to do yours.”

“Not a fan of Stark, huh?” Jack asked slyly.

“He's a scientist and I'm a soldier.” Jo shrugged.

“Oh, so the whole AI military robot thing....” Jack sat down at the desk across from her and sipped his coffee. “Wasn't just Callister's issue?”

“These robots are amazing, but they don't have human instinct. They don't have what it takes to make the decisions that need to be made in an instant before everyone in your unit is killed. You kick down a door, you can't just rely on programming like it's training.”

“I get that.” Jack said and savored the taste of the coffee. It was amazing! “I also work for the government so I know they see people by pay grade and a soldier is more cost effective than a million dollar robot.”

“And _that_ would be where I disagree with making money off these robots who have paid for themselves.” Jo said and sat back and looked at Carter, appreciating having someone who understood her position. Not that she trusted him that much, but she could be somewhat honest with him while he was here. Wasn't bad to look at either. “Soldiers will remain expendable when the cost to buy one of these robots is more than sacrificing an entire army.”

“However, there must have been a deal made or else Callister wouldn't have gone through such extreme measures to destroy the replacement robots. Or give them free will so they could make their own decisions and walk off the job, as Andy said.” Jack asked. “Isn't that why he destroyed Stark's lab?”

“Above my pay grade.” Jo said with a shrug.

He figured that would be the case, that's why he wanted to get at Stark. He needed to know why Callister Raynes came back, why he would take the risk and trap himself here. Something here was still incredibly important, it would have been easier to use his computer skills to vanish in the real world instead of fight to stay invisible in the heavily monitored environment of WestWorld.

“So why did this case fall in your lap, Marshall?” Jo asked. “Is he an escaped fugitive?”

“Yeah. We had him for stealing money from the Marshall service and he was being transported to Washington to stand trial. Somehow he escaped custody while on a flight there and ended up on the other side of the country with a runaway teenage girl.”

“Well Callister has a pretty solid moral code.” Jo said. “I assume that's why he stole money from the US Marshalls, since you manage criminal assets. He's really stealing stolen money.”

“Sounds to me like his moral compass is a little broken.” Jack said . “So you knew him pretty well?”

“I knew him well enough to assure you that whatever he's doing, he thinks is for the right reasons and not personal gain. He destroyed the lab to keep the military from getting their hands on robots that could be used for purposes other than what the government said they wanted. I'd be more concerned about what he wanted that money for than the safety of the girl with him. ” Jo replied. “So do you or else this would be a kidnapping case and that would be FBI jurisdiction.”

He liked her. He wished he could trust her to be his partner on this, but by her own admission her priorities were to her job. That was fair. “Well, hunting fugitives is what US Marshalls do so I'm going to do that.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Jack said and stood up. “Thanks for the coffee too!”


	3. Not My First Rodeo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to try to update this daily. Thanks for reading and sticking with me through the suspense of finding Stark. :) I promise it will be worth it, he's out there.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 3

**Not My First Rodeo**

* * *

Jack emerged from the Sheriff's office and once again was overwhelmed with the feeling of being part of something spectacular. The wild west was truly alive, from the perfect picture of an old town to the dust and smells of historic times. One of those smells seemed to be coming from his guide, Taggart. “So how far away is Eureka from here?”

“About an hour's ride.” Taggart informed him. “Henry runs the livery. He'll have your horse for you. I'll get us some supplies and meet you over there.”

Jack nodded and walked over to the stable, his eyes scanning the people on the street as he walked into the barn. Taggart seemed to be content talking to some fur traders and he was happy to have a chance to interview people himself. He walked into the old barn and was reminded of a tobacco barn in Eastern Kentucky where he had once had a...cowboy experience of his own. It made him take off his genuine cowboy hat and smile a bit. Yeah, he might just have to buy some pictures before he left here. Might have to buy the hat too. “Hello?”

“Hi there? You must be Marshall Carter.”

Jack smiled as the man known as Henry came out from under a buckboard wagon. Apparently everyone got the warning from head office to look out for him. Great. “Yeah. Jack Carter, nice to meet you.”

“Henry Deacon.” He stood up, wiped axle grease off his hands and onto a rag, and shook the Marshall's hand.

“So, you're the man I need to see about a horse?” Jack asked.

“That would be me. I handle all the transportation around here.” Henry said with a smile. “I'm also the coroner.”

“How'd you get this job?” Jack asked. Sucked to be the guy cleaning up manure and picking up dead bodies.

“I'm an engineer.”

“Like...as in the train?”

“As in space shuttles.” Henry said with a grin.

“So you're not a robot.” Jack wasn't expecting that.

“No.” Henry said with a chuckle and pulled a saddle off a rack and walked over to the palomino gelding in the first stall. “This horse is.”

“Well that means less crap to shovel.” Jack said appreciatively. “So how did you go from N.A.S.A to Lassos?”

“My former student brought me in on this project when he was first getting it started. A world of interactive artificial intelligence was something I just had to see. There is actually a ton of engineering that goes into the robots, I just work on the horses and train for fun.”

“Your former student?” Jack asked.

“Nathan Stark.”

“Oh.” Jack said. He wasn't expecting that. He was hoping he'd say Callister Raynes. “You must be proud. I mean the guy is super successful.”

“Well, I would have been happier if he used his knowledge to improve the world instead of making a new one, but it does take capital to build the R&D department and buy the technology we use here.”

So the teacher wasn't so proud. Interesting. “Then why work for him?”

“It's a great job, Marshall. Can't you see how working for the world's most advanced scientific facility could be appealing? Especially when you have no limitations to your creativity and can push the boundaries of science?” Henry asked as he cinched the saddle.

“I see a lot of money being made.” Jack said. An amusement park didn't seem like the world's most 'advanced scientific facility' but Jack was beginning to put things together already. There were a lot of really educated people that he met so far and it was a far cry from the minimum wage punks he'd see running rides at Universal Studios Hollywood. This place seemed like a cover for something way bigger than just rich dudes playing cowboy. That, however, wasn't why he was here. “I also see a disaster in the making. You all isolate yourself in this town with these sentient robots and it seems like a matter of time before they decide their done taking orders.”

“You watch too much Sci-Fi.”

“No, I watch people's good intentions get them killed while people who don't play by the rules profit and get away with murder.” Jack said and tapped his badge to remind the guy he was a cop. The badge made a clicking sound. “What the_ hell _was that?”

“The badge, it's a PDA.” Henry said. “A communication device. It has a camera.”

“I have a PDA?” Jack said and looked down at the badge. “My PDA _has a camera in it_!?”

Henry laughed. “You really should read all the paperwork you sign.”

Jack unpinned the badge and looked at it. “So much for letting me interview people without big brother watching.”

“You're on private property, Marshall.” Henry reminded him. “Of course GD's priority is protecting it's interests.”

“Great! Not foreboding at all! Not like home office doesn't have the ability to let some robot go haywire and see to it that I have some 'unfortunate accident' if I find out something that could be bad for the company image.”

“I didn't say I abide by company directive. I don't exactly play well with the system.” Henry said and laughed as Carter snapped a picture of the horse's ass. Yeah, the folks in the office were going to have their hands full with this guy. Good for him. “So ask and I will answer.”

“OK, what can you tell me about Callister Raynes?” Jack asked and pinned his badge back on and said 'screw it'. He's play by their rules, he couldn't afford to get thrown out now. This thing could come in handy, he'd just have to remember to take his coat off when he wanted some privacy.

“Smart, kid. Quiet and respectful. Nathan worked him hard, as he does everyone, so there wasn't much time to socialize. It was a real surprise that he left the way he did.”

“You mean after he gave the robots free will and they walked off the job?” Jack asked.

“That...was pretty wild.” Henry admitted. “Deputy Andy quit, the Baker twins went all Shining on the hotel guests and a bunch of dogs exploded. Martha dressed up in black and ended up freeing a few retired hosts from the freezer and became an outlaw. I don't think Callister expected the melt down he got. Most of those A.I.s died in the fire along with the new 2.0 models Stark was ready to start testing. But that was years ago.”

“Most?”

“The Baker twins were locked in the hotel basement by Sarah.” Henry said. “They seem normal, as normal as they can be, now. They were reformatted after the incident. ”

“How did your guests not freak out?” Jack ignored all the details of townsfolk he obviously should have met if he was a paying guest. He was getting information and that was exactly what he wanted.

“They're here for entertainment purposes and it was entertaining.” Henry explained. “They accepted it was part of the narrative.”

“Narrative?” Jack asked. “So there are stories that are played out here in addition to being able to be a cowboy?”

“Yes. There are actually multiple story lines, just like in a video game. It's the experience, it's the quests, it's the...”

“Ability to do whatever you want without being held accountable.” Jack offered.

“Fantasy.” Henry said and left it at that.

“So, Callister, did he and Stark disagree on the robots? Is that why he made the robots come alive and then destroyed all the research?” Jack asked. This would be easier with an incident report, but of course he was going to have to go to Stark for that. He wanted plenty of ammunition to go after him with first, and it seemed people were going to just hand it to him.

“Their falling out was over what to do with the retired AI models. As you can imagine they are quite sought after for a second career.”

“By whom? The military? The competition?” Jack asked.

“Among others.”

“Like?”

“There is a very lucrative market for sex robots.” Henry said and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh...Shit.” Jack said. “So they all have....proper functioning anatomy?”

“There is a brothel across the street, Marshall.” Henry laughed.

“Oh.” Jack forgot about that. That was a source of some lawsuits against Global that he read about. “Yeah, the whole pillow talk corporate espionage thing.”

“Like I said, I don't agree with everything around here.” Henry said and grabbed a bridle fro the horse. “However that doesn't mean I'm going to burn the place down. What we're able to accomplish because of this facility far outweighs the negatives.”

“Why does this sound like there is more going on here than just making anatomically correct robots who occasionally have an existential crisis?” Jack asked. One more line of bullshit from Blake. These scientists were all beyond thinking of these robots as pets or kids, they were probably protecting their own work and assets. This was about money, not family.

“Albert Einstein once said, 'The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.'” Henry said and lead the horse out of it's stall and handed the reins to the Marshall. “You should ask to see the command center. I think you'll benefit from seeing the big picture. WestWorld is more than just an expensive vacation place. It's a dream for the people who work here and work on it, a place where the best scientists in their field can work without pressures of the outside world.”

“Doesn't sound like Callister felt like the outside world wasn't encroaching on his vision.” Jack said. He could shake that this had weird vibes of a Michael Crichton film. “It sounds like he worried about the real world getting a taste of what you've all tried to keep locked up here. ”

“You should really explore it all and find out why.” Henry said and looked to the door as Taggart arrived.

“Alright, Marshall.” Taggart said as he lead his own horse over to the barn door. “I'm ready.”

Jack looked at Henry and then back to Taggart. “So what are the chances I can get into your main offices and interview the people behind the scenes about Callister?”

Taggart was about to answer when Jo walked past him with her saddle bags slung over her shoulder.

“Stark's not there.” Jo said as she walked past him to get her horse. “But that's not what you're asking is it? Or should I say, that's not the quest Henry is sending you on.”

“I'm just looking for a fugitive and the more help I get, the faster I catch him.” Jack said and Jo gave Henry a look that said she didn't appreciate this side trip.

“Well, you might as well get the full tour.” Jo lead her horse out past them all and said, “Mount up, I don't have all day.”


	4. Once Upon a Time in the West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapter updates today as this one is short. 
> 
> And the mention of that fellow Deputy Marshall that mines coal is homage to the tiny ship Jack Carter/Raylan Givens that Shadowolfhunter and I sail upon. It's justified. ;)

_WestWorld_

Chapter 4

**Once Upon a Time in the West**

* * *

“Eureka Coal Mines.” Jack read the sign and asked, “So you keep your on-site offices in a mine shaft?”

“Claustrophobic?” Jo asked, dismounting her horse. She looked up at Carter who was genuinely taking it all in and she could see he was the real deal, exactly what his profile said he was. He was a good cop and she hoped that wasn't going to get himself into trouble.

“Only on airplanes.” Jack admitted. “Though I have heard plenty of horrible stories about coal mines from a fellow Deputy Marshall who used to dig coal when he was young.”

“Well, most guests don't go spelunking, and if they do the mine shafts they'll follow will lead them to gold. The prospecting camp is further down the road. ” Jo said as they walked towards the old time coal cars and she opened doors on the sides to reveal that they were individual transports complete with seats.

“Are they looking to pay for their vacation?” Jack asked and saw her flip up a seat in the car and extend a hand to show him to take a seat.

“People have weird fantasies.”

“Like panning for gold?”

“You'd be surprised.”

“Like....living in a fantasy world of the old west and working in Mordor?” Jack asked as he sat down in the coal cart and Jo smiled at him and slammed the little door.

“It's a huge opportunity for a lot of people.” She said and got in the first car.

“Like you?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, like me.” She said. “Believe it or not Carter, the military is free and reputable training for many private sector jobs. I can't have this job anywhere else without dealing with politics and other bullshit because of my sex and age. This job anywhere else isn't even close to the same opportunity.”

“Aye, Marshall.” Taggart spoke up as he revealed some controls in a small shack marked 'explosives' next to the coal car track. “That goes for a lot of us. I can study animals in a controlled environment and help the ones outside of WestWorld with that information. My mechanical geese will help me study migration.”

Jack nodded as his guide waved at the birds nestled in the panniers of a pack saddle on a disinterested horse. The geese seemed to be content. Suddenly the coal car jerked forward and started moving into the mine. It took a moment to adjust his eyes to the dark, even if oil lanterns hung above on every support beam. This..._this_ felt like an amusement part ride. He tried to get comfortable as the car jerked to the left and onto a side track that went straight towards a wall of crumbled stones. They passed signs that said 'Danger!' and warned of a collapsed mine shaft but the cars were not slowing down. “Uh....did we miss a switch back because this track is going....”

Jo turned and smiled, watching him as he winced and prepared for an impact that didn't happen. “Hologram.”

“Right.” Jack said. She was enjoying this, as evident from her smug grin. “Do people go through the employee tunnel at the end of the day and go home? Seems like a hell of a commute to pack in and out of everyday.”

“Most of us live in Eureka.” She informed him. “It's a town within the world here but it stays off the radar for almost all the guests, by design. There is a hologram like the one we just passed though over an old railroad bridge that is the only entrance to town from the outside. We have a 'back door' in the offices that goes directly to town. Off limits to guests, sorry.”

“As a soldier, you're OK with all these escape routes being blocked off?” Jack asked. “Because as a cop, I have to admit I feel trapped and I don't appreciate that.”

“Eh, you get used to it.” She admitted. “Plus I have faith I can take down any of these robots by force if need be. I have a lot in my arsenal.”

“I have faith you can do that too.” Jack said and suddenly marveled at the complexity of this all. “So this is really a lot like those old World War 2 towns the government made for scientists where they were brought to make weapons for the war. Isolated think-tanks.”

“If you want to think of it that way, sure. But nobody is building bombs here.” She said.

“They _could_ be.” Jack offered and she shrugged, admitting this was the perfect place to hide away and do some nefarious acts. Except that nobody seemed to like their boss that much and they all had an air of independence about them and their work. They were going down into the Earth, the decent and the chill made him think about those stories about coal mines and companies stripping the land of it's resources and then moving on. “Tell me about the mines. Do you use the coal to run the trains? Is it the power source for this place?”

“No, we use green energy. Most of the water and waste is recycled. The environment is closely monitored and maintained.” Jo replied and turned and looked at him with a smirk. “I think that's EPA jurisdiction, isn't it Marshall?”

“I'm curious.” Jack said. “It's my nature. The more I know about this place the easier it is for me to anticipate where a fugitive might be able to hide.”

“The mines are dual purpose. They house our offices and also are where the logic diamonds used to power the robots are grown.” Jo informed him. “These mountains surround Eureka, the town is nestled inside the crater that is left over from the asteroid impact that made the mountains ages ago. Eureka is complete with more modern living arrangements, great schools, hospital. It's the perfect small town, but pretty much everyone is a genius and works for Global. Even if someone wanted to go mountain climbing and went to the very top of the mountain to look inside, all they'd see is a massive lake thanks to the hologram and EM field.”

“Wait, back up. _Logic_ diamonds?” Jack asked, confused. “And _EM field_?”

“You can't run a super computer without the right materials. Everything in WestWorld is made in WestWorld.” Jo answered. “The EM Field ensures what is WestWorld, stays in WestWorld.”

“Wow this beat the pants off Vegas.”

“They wish they had our security.” Jo laughed.

Jack realized there was a lot more at stake for the people who worked here than just a job, it was a life they had built. He was happy that Jo let down her guard a little and was talking with him, though he suspected she was ordered to do so. She knew better than anyone what information might compromise security, and he appreciated that on a professional level. “So what's the EM field?”

“It an electromagnetic field that surrounds the mountain protecting the mainframe and servers as well as our personal homes. Basically it's protection from above and outside so nobody steals or tampers with the computers that run the place, and it keeps all transmissions from getting out as well which protects the guests and GD. The robots can't even operate within the command center itself, only within controlled chambers for testing. We have safeguards in place in case something does go wrong. It's why Stark doesn't live inside Eureka anymore, but in a cabin on the side of the mountain and works out of warehouse that used to be an old lumber mill. You'll have to take an old logging road to get to him, Taggart will show you when you get back top-side.”

Jack nodded. “This really is West_World_, huh?”

“It's our home, Carter.” Jo said and looked at him. She had been instructed to tell him there was a lot at stake here, personally and not just shareholder wise. “I'm engaged to the head computer programmer. Allison Blake is married to Nathan Stark. Henry is married to one of the researchers who builds the AIs, Grace Monroe. Douglas Fargo, who is Stark's new assistant, is married to Holly Martin who is an _actual _rocket scientist who loves working here more than anywhere else in the world. People who are way smarter than you or me choose to live and work here, that has to say something.”

“It says there is more going on than just robot westerns.” Jack said and she glared at him. “However that's above _my_ pay-grade. I just want to find Callister and bring the girl home safe and sound.”

“So do I.”

“However I do have a question for you, as head of security.”

“Shoot.”

“Once I do find Callister, you understand that I am a _US _Marshall and WestWorld still resides within _America,_ right? I do get to take him back with me and he is going to stand trial for what he's done.” Jack said and she gave him a sweet look that was definitely meant to convey a 'well, you can try' vibe. “I understand how he might know a lot that would compromise GD if he should talk.”

She cocked her head as the coal car came to a stop in front of a nasty looking slurry pond. “What are you asking, Carter?”

“I did my research before I came here. WestWorld has been sued many times, the one thing that stood out was the allegations that the Bed and Breakfast host was sleeping with the guests and acting as some kind of shrink. That information she extracted compromised a lot of really rich and powerful people, some even senators and congressmen. Maybe someone liked the idea and sent Callister back to return the favor? Blackmail, corporate espionage, insider trading....”

“Then why did he steal money from the US Marshalls if he was being compensated so well for his spy activities?” She asked and turned around and looked at him and couldn't help but get angry. “I told you Callister had a very strict moral code. He would never sell out like that.”

“OK.” Jack said and believed her. He believed she would help her friend too. He just didn't know what Callister believed, because he had already tried to sabotage the place. “So, end of the line?”

Jo got out of the car as he pointed to the pond ahead of them where the tracks bent over the edge and disappeared in the water. “Hologram. The entrance to the office is right ahead.”

He nodded and noted the curt response as she walked right at the dangerous pit and disappeared. He got out and followed her, scared that Zoe was now entangled in something so complicated he might not be able to save her.


	5. Bonanza

_WestWorld_

Chapter 5

**Bonanza!**

* * *

Jack was impressed by massive underground facility that controlled WestWorld on-site and was really happy Henry had hinted he needed to see it. This gave him perspective and he couldn't help but feel his chances of finding Callister and Zoe diminishing.

“This is Dr. Douglas Fargo, Stark's current assistant.” Jo said as they entered the main command center. Before Fargo could say anything, she point a finger at him to tell him to stay quiet. Everyone else was working and they didn't stop what they were doing for their visitor, except for Fargo who was about ready to run over like an eager puppy. “That's Dr. Holly Martin, she is responsible for making the realistic bodies the AI hosts have. Dr. Tess Fontana, who controls the environment of WestWorld. Zane Donovan, our current computer programming genius who controls the Matrix, if you will, and keeps story-lines flowing.”

“Oh Wow. That's a lot of doctors.” Jack said and looked at all the screens and technological _things_ all over the room. The round computer desk they were all working at had a map in the middle, he assumed a 3D map of the park, and there were tons of readings and stuff happening. Ok, this was a major _major_ undertaking. So much _literally_ lying under the surface of the park keeping it running.

“Lot's of PhDs.” Jo said and rolled her eyes at him, indicating he was at a disadvantage here. She liked him enough to warn him, smart people could be assholes about their intelligence and these people were under a lot of stress right now.

“Hi. I'm US Marshall Jack Carter. I'm sure you all know that.” Jack stepped right in it anyway. Why the hell not?

“Yeah, we got the memo.” Tess said and waved at him over the main control panel. Ally had ranted about him for about an hour and she was going to call her back and ask why she forgot to mention he was cute. “You took your time getting here.”

“Time is a social construct.” Jack said, trying to sound smart and repeating some crap his teenage daughter liked to throw at him.

“Time is money.” Eva Thorne said from above as she walked down the stairs from her office and paused, for effect, midway.

“And you are....” Jack prompted.

“Eva Thorne. I'm the CFO of Global Dynamics.” She said and made sure his eyes remained on her and not on anything else too long. He might not be a genius but he wasn't illiterate; he could pick up plenty just from a glance at the wrong screen.

“Ah, so _you're_ the one trying to sell your scrap robots.” Jack said and grinned at her. He was no stranger to upper management showing up and shutting down discussion before it could begin.

“How about you come to my office and we leave the good doctors alone to work.” Eva said as she turned and started walking away indicating she was done talking here.

“Something you don't want me to see?” Jack asked, well aware of her game. He pointed to computer on the wall. “Like that red blinking_ stuff _all over that screen over there?”

“Are you interviewing for a job or are you looking for Callister Raynes?” Eva asked and didn't look at him again as she walked into her office.

“Point taken.” Jack said and decided to follow her as instructed.

“See you around, Carter.” Jo waved and added, “I'm going back to work. Stay out of trouble, I'd hate to have to throw you in jail.”

“Sure thing, Sheriff.” Jack said and noticed her exchange smiles with the computer programming 'genius' Zane Donovan. He couldn't blame these people if they didn't want to look too close at the world they wanted to keep living in, but something felt off. It was not why he was here, he had to keep reminding himself of that. He followed Thorne up to an office that had a glass wall and looked down on the command center. The door closed behind him automatically. “So, what can you tell me about Callister Raynes?”

“He's out there somewhere.” She said with wave at the bird's eye view of the park map below them in the command center and waited for the Marshall to look at her. “And I doubt he came back because he was homesick.”

“So, you're the one who makes the financial decisions around here?” Jack said. “So he might be interested in taking up his complaints _with you_?”

“Doubtful.” She said and smiled at him. “The majority of our researchers and staff don't care to see the big picture.”

“Which is?”

“It takes a lot of money to keep this place running and provide them with the newest and best technology.” She said. “We can't afford to get sentimental about our old robots.”

“What else are you selling besides old robots and charming old western vacations?” Jack asked.

“Since coming on board as CFO, I have diversified Global Dynamics and capitalized on a lot of materials made within the park. Everything you see here had to be invented and made in order to make WestWorld a reality. Cutting edge technology all the way around and not all of it needs to be kept a secret. We have a marketing division that finds profitable outlets for what is created here. Our researchers get a share of the profits, which is an excellent trade off for access to the resources they are constantly asking for. Several have even won Nobel prizes thanks to the research they can do. None of that, however, concerns you or Callister Raynes.”

“But _I _concern you.” Jack said with a grin and watched her smile.

“Yes, because I think you're losing focus on who the criminal is.” She said.

“Are you suggesting there are more criminals than just Callister?”

“Yes.” Eva said and sat down. “The girl he's with.”

Jack noted she was watching him like a hawk, unblinking and ready to take advantage of any flicker of vulnerability. “So, that's why one of your people suggested I come here and take a look around? They're concerned for their safety because of a computer geek they barely knew and a teenager?”

“Henry wanted you to get an idea of what you're chasing and the sheer size of the park. He's a teacher, he sets people up for success. ” Eva said. “You're looking for a man who helped create all this. Someone who made the robots. Someone who knows places that were buried in the sand after a narrative was scrapped and a new one was created. He knows how to sneak in past the best security we can afford and move around without any one of our millions of cameras, animals or hosts seeing him. He's invisible and so is this girl with him. You need to understand that you can't rely on your regular methods to find him. Go old school.”

“I'm pretty old school.” Jack said and looked down at the room below, focusing on the interactive map of the place. It....was _huge_. He could also understand why they needed an outsider for this job, because he wouldn't rely on any of this tech to do his job. He showed up at just the right time, which was a odd coincidence. And there was that feeling again, of things just being more than they appeared to be.

“I want to help you, Marshall.” Eva said.

“You want to help me? So you gave me _Taggart_?” Jack asked and gave her a humorous smile. She wasn't charmed by him though, she legitimately labeled him a threat and he took that to mean she was scared he'd cost them money. She'd pounce on the opportunity to use Zoe against him when she found out about her, _that_ he was certain of.

“His mechanical geese are operating on new software. They're surveillance drones now. We have a new, separate system dedicated entirely to reading their data. Facial recognition, heat signatures, the works. They are flying around the park, comparing the new map they are compiling with the map our readings and cameras are telling us about.” She said. “They're looking for Callister from the air and looking for disturbances. Whatever he's doing to mask his location, we hope they will be immune to.”

“OK.” Jack said. “That's _not_ old school.”

“We aren't taking care of this in-house because I fear his friends and co-worker might sympathize with him.” She said. “I need fresh eyes. I need someone with a record like yours to take care of this.”

“I don't work for you.” Jacks said and put his hands on his hips. “And I can make a call and have dozens of Marshalls here by morning if you want to play it that way.”

“I am being cooperative, Marshall. GD has extended you a unprecedented courtesy, please don't ruin that. We both have something to gain from you getting what you want.” Eva reminded him. "I'm sorry if I offended you by implying you were called in to work for us."

“Sure. So I have talked to your COO Dr. Blake and now you, the CFO. Where is your CEO, Stark?” Jack asked. He was old school and he wanted a face to face interrogation with the guy who ruled this world. He was done talking with her, he wasn't going to gain anything from a conversation with this woman. 

“Working.” She said. “We can not afford to take days off around here.”

“Ah, so typical salaried employees. Amazing benefits etc, etc proves to come at a cost. Always on call.” Jack countered.

“You're not?” She asked and he frowned at that. “They're compensated handsomely for their work and they love to work. Nobody lasts at GD unless they make work their life.”

“Alright, I get the point. You're busy and this is a time sensitive matter. The longer Callister is here, the longer he has to do damage and cost you money. Yet nobody wants to tell me _anything_ about this guy because he was always too busy working to interact with anyone. Not helpful.”

“You've interviewed Lupo and Deacon, not the most reliable narrators.” Eva said. “I'm sure they failed to mention important information that might show you they're a bit...jaded.”

“For instance?” Jack prodded.

“Jo and Callister used to date, up until the day he left without a goodbye.” Eva watched him react and smiled at him. “Henry and Nathan had a falling out after one of our brightest researchers, Kim Anderson, was killed in a power source explosion. Something Henry has never forgiven him for. We are removed from the world, but humans will never be removed from the entanglements of emotion and complicated relationships.”

“I'm a _real_ Marshall.” Jack said with a smile. “I know how people work, especially when they're breaking the law.”

“And that's why I'm happy to have you looking for Callister and this young lady he's working with.”

Jack had to make sure he didn't react, she was trying to read him to see if he knew who the accomplice was. He had to protect Zoe, so he understood where all these people were coming from when they closed ranks. “Then you don't mind if I swing by Eureka after I talk with Stark? Poke around a little?”

“Not at all.” Eva smiled at him. “I can't order them to talk to you. Once they clock out, they're on their own.”

“Right.” Jack said. “Except they're salary so they never clock out.”

She smiled at him. “Good luck with your search, Marshall.”

Jack saw himself out and walked back down to the command center and took one long look at the screens and all the red letters popping up in places. Something wasn't right. These people were all researchers, except for the computer guy, and they should be working on research not the day to day running of the place. Something else was going on, especially if Callister had made himself invisible to the computer system. Those red letters were popping up all over WestWorld, Raynes couldn't be everywhere at once. Sure he could be triggering all these alerts as some kind of smokescreen, but his gut told him something else was awry.

Which is why he really needed to get Zoe out of here.


	6. Dances With Wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update today. Shorter chapters are keeping me from rambling, but don't stop me from writing.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 6

**Dances with Wolves**

* * *

Taggart was waiting on him as soon as he was escorted to the office entrance in the mines. He was there to guide him back to the surface but, was so excited to talk to him about his geese Jack couldn't ask him any questions. Jack zoned out on a lot of his babbling, taking the time to gather his thoughts. He had a lot to think about, especially now that he talked to Eva. When they finally saw daylight again he opted to ask Taggart a question and interrupt his mumbling about Thorne's software update to his geese. “So, I thought this was all Nathan Stark's world? I thought he owned this place.”

“Not since GD went public.” Taggart said. “We're a long way away from the days when WestWorld was a cute western vacation spot instead of a full immersion simulation.”

“I glanced past the history section on the brochure, can you bring me up to speed?" Jack asked. He shouldn't have done that but he wasn't expecting to have to learn about so much in order to solve a case around here.

“Sure, mate.” Taggart said and got a dreamy look in his eye as he recounted the history of the park. “Stark bought the land from a government auction with the money he won with his Nobel Prize. He had to clean it all up as it used to be a military base and had a lot of environmental problems; contaminated ground water, hidden munitions, radiated soil....you get the idea.”

Jack knew_ that_ wasn't on the vacation brochure. “So he got the land cheap because it wasn't usable for anything else?”

“Yeah, but he cleaned it up. Henry helped.” Taggart said and looked up at the sky and said, “It's cleaner here than most places in the country now, thanks to them. The technology they created together has been used in a lot of other places to undo damage done. Mercury pulled from rivers. Oil spills cleaned up. Industrial waste. ”

“Ok, so why go public?” Jack asked as he could see Taggart would go on and on about this if allowed. The guy was an animal specialist, this was closely tied to his passion.

“Money, mate.” Taggart said. “To build all this took a lot of money. More than he had and could make. Unfortunately, you need investors for that. He still has the controlling shares, but answers to a board of directors.”

“Ah.” Jack said and was getting the picture now. It explained why he retreated to his world to do the work after being in the headlines for years as the brilliant business man who built an empire of his own. It was a great publicity stunt, people wrote him off as some eccentric genius who wanted to live in Fantasyland but, in reality, it allowed him the privacy to do what he wanted. Apparently he wanted to do science. Well _that_ was a long way away from the image the magazines painted of him. Jack saw an opportunity to get honest answers from Taggart now that his own feathers were ruffled from this goose drone thing, so he asked, “So... Stark wasn't some rich scientist looking to take an extended vacation in the Pacific Northwest? He genuinely wanted to build his own scientific research facility and hide it in a theme park?”

“Ah the old 'what came first, the chicken or the egg' question.” Taggart said and shrugged. “I don't know. I was brought in to work with the wildlife and I did that. Not all the animals in the park are robots, we have a very healthy and incredible ecosystem here.”

“Maybe you can take me to Stark now so I can get some answers? Please?” Jack asked. So much for that chance to get an honest answer. As soon as they made it to the horses, Taggart slapped his hand on his chest and made him stop moving.

“_Lo-Jack_.” Taggart hissed.

“What?” Jack looked down at the guy's hand which was covering his badge. “Taggart, I know they're tracking me with the badge. I also know it's a camera.”

Taggart took his hand back and then tip toed over to the horse, using it as cover, then peaked over the top of the saddle. “My nemesis.”

Jack walked over and looked where the guy was pointing and said, “It's _a dog_.”

“Not just any dog.” Taggart said and started to follow it.

“Is the the Google Earth Dog? Is he going to show us to this warehouse where Stark is?” Jack asked, feeling another side trip coming on. This guy should have been named Tangent. He still wasn't convinced he wasn't a robot.

“No, he tells us if there are anomalies in WestWorld. He shows us..._the way”_

“Seems a little low tech for this place. Shouldn't you have computers that know everything down in the mines?” Jack asked, wanting to hear it from Taggart's mouth instead of Thorne's.

“He's not connected to any of our networks so that he can't be compromised.” Taggart explained. “He sniffs out problems and reports them back to us.”

“Ok.” Jack said and Taggart crouched down and got on eye level with the dog. He wasn't so sure about this guy's sanity as that move put him right next to the horse's hind legs. He sighed. He just wanted to interview Stark! Why the hell was it so hard to do that! He looked at the horse, the horse looked at him, and one of the geese honked. “What about the geese? Thorn said they were feathered drones?”

“Yeah.” Taggart spat. “She.._ordered me_ to install some new software so they would report back to the office. Something about updating the map. I'll get my data, sure, but I don't like them being potentially weaponized.”

“They're not on the same system as the dog?” Jack asked. The longer he was here the more it seemed like nobody had control of this place at all.

“No, he's independent. He's got free will and an IQ pf 130.”

“Free will? Like what caused the 1.0 robots to blow up? Free will as in...Callister's “Free will” program that made Sheriff Cobb start getting suspicious of his intentions?” Jack wished he had a directory of who's who around here. He didn't even want to know what happened to Sheriff Cobb, but he suspected he was going to stumble across the guy at some point.

“Yeah.” Taggart said sheepishly. “Nobody caught him because he's smarter than the rest.”

“Cobb or Callister?” Jack asked.

“Low Jack.” Taggart said appreciatively. “None of the other dogs were like him, he is special.”

Jack squatted down next to Taggart. At this point getting kicked by a horse might just put him out of his misery. “Let me guess. Low Jack could probably sniff out Callister, but he won't because the guy made him a 'real' dog.”

“Who knows.” Taggart said cryptically.

“You're going to follow him, aren't you?” Jack asked.

“It's the call of the wild.”

“Point me in the direction of Stark's house, _please_.” Jack said and stood up. He wasn't going on a wild goose chase with Taggart. He was _done_ with the cute little quests and games.

Taggart's long arm pointed to the west. “Follow that road. I'll meet you at the gold prospecting camp on the side of the mountain. Wait for me there. You won't find the old logging roads without my help.”

Jack got back on his horse and rode off, not well, but he managed to keep his hand on the saddle and steer with the other one. In about ten minutes he came up on a camp that looked run down but still had some prospecting structures and a few buildings and staff. From the way all the people looked at him when he came in, he knew they were robots. “Any humans here?”

“Yes, the alchemist." Answered a young boy who held a pan and looked like some street urchin from a play about the horrors of child labor. "Would you like me to take you to meet him, Marshall?”

“_Alchemist? _As in someone who turns lead into gold?” Jack asked. He was expecting less _Harry Potter_ and more _Toy Story 2_, but whatever. He just wanted directions. Clearly there had to be someone else who knew were the old logging road and lumber mill was. If it was an alchemist instead of a lumberjack, he wasn't going to complain. 

“That's impossible, we don't have a particle accelerator or enough energy at this location to do that.” Replied the boy.

“Good to know.” Jack said and got off his horse and said, “Lead the way.”


	7. Gold Rush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter update for the day. Tomorrow we will finally lay eyes on Stark. I promise.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 7

**Gold Rush**

* * *

“Hello?” Jack called out as he entered a sketchy looking structure that was the labeled 'Surveyor's Office'. Jack didn't get an answer and instead opted to investigate on his own. He almost walked into some weighing scales hanging from the ceiling. They reminded him of the kind Lady Justice held at every courthouse he had ever been in. He announced himself before he got impaled by some mining equipment. “US Marshall Jack Carter, I'm looking for someone....human.”

“Sorry about those. I made them a mobile to remind us all of Newton's third law of motion.”

“Ok.” Jack turned towards the voice. Funny how a symbol invoked different meanings for people of different walks of life. He looked at it again and still saw the scales of justice. This building, however, reminded him of a school trip to a California Gold Rush village he chaperoned when Zoe was little. Well, except for the fact that the elementary school kids were getting a lesson on pyrite and not physics. Apparently you get what you pay for.

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Push something here and there is chaos where you least expect it.” The alchemist emerged from the back wearing a collarless shirt with sleeves rolled up and an apron over it. “I'm Christopher Dactlyos, what can I help you with Marshall?”

“Are you some kind of prospector?” Jack asked.

“I prefer alchemist.” Christopher said. “It's easier than explaining my credentials to laymen and honestly gives me more reason to preach about the evils of playing God.”

“So you're turning lead into gold?” Jack asked. “I guess that's not illegal...”

“It's a crime against nature.” Christopher said and narrowed his eyes at him.

“Well, if you feel that way about artificial gold how do you feel about all the artificial humans running around this place?” Jack asked. The people here were preachy, he wondered how guests interacted with them.

“I'm sorry, Marshall, I thought you were saying you were looking for someone _human_?” Christopher said and made a show of looking impatient.

“Yeah, Callister Raynes.”

“Haven't seen him in years.”

“How about Nathan Stark?”

Christopher laughed. “Go up to the mountaintop to see God yourself. I don't have much use for him.”

“Not a fan of Stark either, huh? Seems to be the biggest theme in this park.” Jack put his hands on his hips and looked at the scales that Christopher said signified some kinda of chaos where you least expect it. He sure wasn't expecting everyone's animosity towards their boss. “Why work for him?”

“It wasn't that way in the beginning. I came here to help clean up the land, which involved removing heavy metals and elements from the soil, water and air. We had similar interests but very different approaches.” Christopher said.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Nathan thought the future held the answers and I believe in learning from the past.” Christopher said.

“Cryptic, but I guess that's part of the whole alchemist theme.” Jack said and realized if he didn't phrase his questions right he wasn't getting anything out of this guy. “Well, I'm trying to learn about the past so I can find someone in the present. I'm looking for Callister Raynes, I just haven't had much luck getting the truth out of anyone. I thought I'd go to the source, unless you can enlighten me?”

“That _is_ a name from the past.” Christopher said and leaned against the counter. “But I can't help you, Marshall. Callister worked better with Nathan than anyone I had ever seen. They connected on a level that honestly surprised everyone because they were nothing alike. It could very well have been a mutual understanding and appreciation for Artificial Intelligence but that's not my field.”

“OK.” Jack said and looked back at the scales. It wasn't his field and he didn't appreciate it. Man, this place was wild. “So...I have to ask about the 'chaos where you least expect it' thing. Kinda an ominous statement for a vacation attraction.”

“Not at all.” Christopher said. “I've seen people come to WestWorld to do some of the most depraved things only to go back to the real world and resume their normal lives. However, it creates chaos in them and they come back here time and time again to relive it. Makes you wonder what is their artificial life and what is their natural one, doesn't it? Then again, I am sure as a US Marshall you have seen the darkness in people.”

“Yeah.” Jack said. Screw it, he wasn't going to avoid diving into the underlying problems of this place no matter how hard he tried. “I guess that leads me to the question of: do you think that Stark and GD are doing things they're trying to hide from the world here?”

Christopher laughed and crossed his arms and looked this man over. “I can guarantee that _you_ are the chaos in their world and they know it.”

“Not sure how to take that.” Jack said honestly.

“I'll put it this way. In alchemy we have the philosopher's stone, a substance that would turn ordinary elements into gold. It was said that it could cure illness and grant immortality, allowing the person who possessed it to play God.” Christopher smiled and laughed. “I couldn't come up with a better metaphor for this place if I tried. We came here and cleaned up toxic land and used the materials to build an artificial world. Pure gold, if you will, more than just the profitable metal but in the sense of the perfect element. Stark has the stone, he can make the hosts come back to life and cure what ails his guests for a little while, but it's not natural.”

“So _why_ do you work here?” Jack couldn't believe how disgruntled, yet functional, all these people were.

“Because alchemists are enamored with perfection and Eureka _is_ perfection.” Christopher said. “Even down to being a perfect circle of a town, the good the bad...the past the present....it all comes together to be an enriching environment for enlightenment. We're all scientists, we all strive for progress even if we all have different ideas of how we want to better ourselves and the world. What we have accomplished in the clean up phase alone was enough to improve the world for generations, even if most of the world chose to look at is a a way to continue to do whatever they wanted.”

“I have to admit, this place is really unique.” Jack said. “I've never met so many people who openly hate their boss.”

“Callister didn't.” Christopher said then added, “And then Stark pushed him to the point where he wanted to free the robots and burn the lab down. He has that effect on people.”

“Can't wait to meet him.” Jack said. “Thanks for your time.”

“Not a problem.” Christopher said. “Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do.”


	8. Westward Ho!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied.
> 
> One more update for today because I couldn't resist finally showing off Stark.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 8

**Westward Ho!**

* * *

Taggart was waiting on him when he got back to his horse so Jack asked, “Did the dog have anything to say?”

“No.” Taggart said. “It's not time.”

“For the dog... _to talk_?” Jack asked. What kind of Scooby Doo shit was this? Why the hell was he finding it so hard to _no_t like Taggart?

“Not everyone speaks the same language, Marshall.” Taggart said and grinned. “Which is the beauty of this place, really. Everyone has a different specialty and we can all come together to make something so unique and special.”

“Except that you all seem to agree that Nathan Stark is an asshole and nobody even bothered to get to know Callister Raynes.”

“You're good at this.” Taggart said. 

Jack laughed, releasing a little tension. He might as well enjoy the quirky company he had. “Actually, I am no closer to finding my man than I was when I set foot in Dr. Blake's office this morning. Just about everyone is trying to point me in a different direction and I'm getting a little pissed about it.”

“Well, talking to Stark isn't going to make you any happier.” Taggart said. “If anything, he's going to tell you even less.”

“Well, let's leave it up to him to tell me that.” Jack said and got on his horse. “Lead the way.”

“Sure thing, Marshall.” Taggart said and got on this own horse and started riding west.

“Where are your geese?” Jack asked, noticing the pack horse and it's cargo were missing.

“I released them back by the mines. I needed to get them close to the EM field so I could run diagnostics and make sure they weren't affected by it." Taggart sighed. "Then I let them go, let my babies fly.” 

He got that dreamy look on his face and Jack didn't ask any more questions, he just enjoyed the ride. It took another five minutes to find the logging trail and then they let the horses run up the hill. He held onto the horn and just hoped he didn't fall off or get dragged by the stirrup to Stark's doorstep, he really wanted to arrive and be intimidating. Everyone made him feel like the guy deserved his full Marshall interrogation and he was looking forward to taking out his frustrations on someone.

Luckily he didn't fall off and didn't die because the lumber mill, and the lake it sat beside, was absolutely stunning. There was even a waterfall coming down out of the mountains in the distance and a nice log cabin sitting overlooking it all. He felt like he died and went to heaven, this place was like a dream! This was a vacation worth paying for!

“There he is.” Taggart whispered and pointed to a man swimming out in the lake, incredible muscles visible from the road as he cut through the water like the majestic example of mankind that he was.

“Finally.” Jack got off his horse, a little creeped out by the tone of Taggart's voice. It was like he was seeing a miracle, awe written all over his face. 

Taggart slipped from the saddle and accompanied him down the dock that jutted out into the lake. Part of the reason he was glad for this assignment was he knew that Stark would be monitoring the Marshall's progress and be prepared to meet him. And Taggart wanted to giggle with glee as Stark swam towards them, because he was _not_ going to disappoint with his welcome.

“Nathan Stark?” Jack tried to not walk funny, but there was nothing comfortable about riding in a vintage saddle in these wool trousers. Especially running up hill, bouncing most of the way. He was pretty sure that he was not making the best first impression, especially since he was limping down a rustic boat dock overlooking a beautiful lake and looking at the most _beautiful_ man he had ever seen in his life.

“Yes?” Nathan said as he lifted himself onto the boat dock and did his best to not flash the stranger. Not try _that _hard, the guy was gorgeous and clearly checking him out. Taggart was unashamed in his ogling, as if he was looking at a prize specimen emerging from the waters.

“I told you, his abs are just unbelievable. Art, really.” Taggart whispered to Jack and then tapped his badge to take a picture. He'd thank him later. “Best part of the west is it's historically accurate to be..._Au Naturale_”

“Ah...yeah.” Jack stumbled over his words as Stark stood-up after pulling his entire naked and muscular body onto the worn wood pier and showcasing some incredible strength in the process. Abs were fantastic, biceps were impressive too. Then he flashed his ample length, in body and appendages, while turning around to dry his hair with a towel. That towel then went to his waist and covered him up as he came towards them and made Jack forget how to speak. Intimidation? Advertising? Who cared. He was embedding this image in his retinas and mind for the rest of his life. He really hoped they sold vacation pictures in the gift shop of your WestWorld moments. “Sorry about that. I didn't mean to interrupt.”

“Mmm.” Nathan hummed and looked at the badge on the man's coat knowing the office was also getting a view of him. Eh. Good for morale. He let his eyes wander up and down Carter, he wore the vintage clothing pretty well, then again the tailor always did a fine job outfitting guests. He gave him a warm smile. “I've been expecting you, Marshall.”

“Jack Carter.” He replied, as an awkward introduction, and held out his hand. He felt like an idiot, he had no idea what to say despite spending most of his morning coming up with plenty of questions to ask. “I'm here looking for Callister Raynes and a teenage girl he has with him.”

“I know.” Nathan said and shook his hand. Firm handshake, nice hands. He then looked to Taggart who was still focused on his abs. Clearly Ally held back a _few_ details when she said she couldn't get rid of the cop so she let him loose in WestWorld. She expected him to deal with him and, by God, she knew his type. He could see her smile now as she typed that text message and he couldn't even feign being angry about it. “Haven't seen him since he destroyed my lab two years ago.”

“Maybe you can tell me more about him so I can find him?” Jack asked.

“Maybe I should put on pants?” Nathan replied.

Jack took longer to answer than he should have, but finally replied, “OK.”

“Come on in my cabin, I'll make you some coffee.”

“That would be great.” Jack said and gave Taggart a look that said he didn't want company while he attempted to interrogate his boss.

“I'll tend to the horses.” Taggart said after one more appreciative glance at his boss, and wandered off to do just that. “Console Trigger for your horrible riding skills.”

Jack followed Stark to the cabin and tried to not be so obvious about watching the way the man's muscles moved as he walked. His bare back and legs exposed a lot of incredible muscles and he was fixated on watching them as he walked ahead of him, hoping he got this out of his system before he got caught. He tapped on his badge and took a picture anyway, adding it to his collection of memories in case there was a photo package he could buy. Stark turned as he got to the steps to the cabin and he was almost caught ogling him but Jack glanced at a stack of firewood just a split second before Stark turned. He rubbed his face and back of his neck to hide his flushed cheeks as he said, “Chop a lot of firewood?”

“It's how I stay warm in the winter and heat the cook stove.” Nathan said with a smirk. “Got an eye for quality wood, Marshall?”

Jack cleared his throat. He wanted to dismiss that as just a statement about the logs but Stark's smirk said it was definitely about what he was covering with that towel. Jack ignored it. “I wouldn't think a robot scientist CEO of Global Dynamics would be swinging an axe.”

“I've swung a lot of things that would surprise you, Carter.” Nathan said and walked into his cabin.

“What the hell does that mean?” Jack asked himself and stopped on the front porch to look around and take off his coat. He felt like this would be a conversation he should have without someone listening and he needed to work what assets he had. Clearly shameless flirting and innuendo was not off limits, so he unbuttoned his collar a little, took off his hat and followed him inside.


	9. True Grit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter update for today, I wanted to get to this point by the weekend. 
> 
> Went back and did some editing of the chapters posted yesterday as they were riddled with mistakes. I was fighting with copy/paste and formatting and a cursor with a mind of it's own, and it showed.

_Westworld_

Chapter 9

**True Grit**

* * *

Jack walked into the cabin, after leaving his coat and hat outside on the stacked logs, and was surprised to see that it really _was_ an authentic western cabin. It was one room with all the rustic necessities of kitchen sink, cook stove and a rough-hewn wood table. There was a door that lead to a back room where he assumed the more modern amenities of bed and bath resided; living the pioneer life was one thing, but nobody wanted to deal with an outhouse. A striking stone fireplace dominated the one wall, while the other had ample windows to view the lake. He was expecting something modern inside, he was expecting this famous guy to live in luxury.

“You were expecting something different?” Nathan asked as he disappeared into the bedroom and didn't close the door so he could still talk. He remained out of view but couldn't resist remaining in line of the mirror. If the Marshall was a good cop, and wanted another good look of him, he could catch an eyeful in the reflection. “Perhaps a BMW in the garage? Expensive suits in the closet? A priceless handcrafted watch on my wrist synchronized with the atomic clock?”

“Yeah, that's sort of the image I got when I googled your name and company.” Jack said and took another step into the beautiful cabin and in doing so got a glimpse of _something_ moving out of the corner of his eye. When he focused on it, he saw Stark's beautiful ass reflected in the mirror in his bedroom. Oh...he was _good_. Jack smiled to himself because he could be flirty and playful when he wanted to be, and maybe that was the best approach here. Instead of the course and hardened Marshall, he could continue to be the charismatic and dumb guy who didn't understand anything about this place and needed everything explained to him. That was how he had to extract information thus far, forming everything like a question these smart folks couldn't resist replying to. If he had gone at them with accusations instead of seemingly innocent clarifications, he would have been kicked out of the park already. For now, he'd enjoy the show Stark was putting on for him and see where it got him.

“That's my life in the real world and in Eureka.” Nathan said. “Thankfully, I'm able to leave day to day operations to my_ ex-_wife Dr. Blake. I find it easier to work on the A.I.s while submersed in their world. “

Jack raised his eyebrows. _Ex_-wife? That must have been a recent marital status change as it was definitely not on social media. It also wasn't publicized here because the Sheriff didn't know either. It was a deliberate piece of information served up to him and he felt a little conflicted. He was here to find Callister Raynes and Zoe. He also knew that Nathan Stark was a name that absolutely terrified people in the business and political world thanks to the many articles he read about him. He wasn't dealing with some hot naked guy he just found swimming in a pond on vacation, this was one of the smartest guys in the world and he couldn't trust anything he said or did. Jack sighed. _That ass though._...”I found you submerged in the _water_ taking a break. That doesn't fit in with the profile of the workaholic you're rumored to be.”

“You don't get these abs sitting behind a desk all day, Carter.” Nathan said and stepped into his boxers and historically accurate trousers. He grabbed a shirt off the hanger and slipped it over his head, tucked it in his pants and then put his arms through the suspenders that kept his pants up. Next, he grabbed his vest and walked out of his bedroom, putting it on as he walked. He had to pause in the doorway to appreciate the Marshall's outfit change as well. “I was swimming. It's exercise. It also helps me think. Nature can be a good psychologist, better than any shrink I've encountered.”

_Didn't shrink your dick, that's for sure._ “I'm glad you're taking precautions to not die of dysentery.”

“Thankfully we're a little more advanced around here than the Oregon Trail simulation game.” Nathan smiled at him and ran his hand through his wet hair to shake out the water, but mainly to look like model on Instagram for Carter's benefit. It had been a while since anyone eye-banged him this hard and he was enjoying it. “Our computers are also a little more advanced than an Apple II.”

“If that's the case, why was Callister Raynes able to hack your system and get into WestWorld?”

Nathan smiled. _Well played Carter, I walked right into that._ He couldn't help but glance over his shoulder and give the man a look that said he appreciated the move. He let his gaze flicker down to his exposed throat and chest, indicating he appreciated the move to dress down as well. “He helped build this place. When you're that familiar with how something works, slipping in the back door isn't that difficult.”

The way he said 'back door' and the oh-so-slight quirk of his eyebrow told Jack that Stark was well aware of the double meaning of that statement and he chose his words carefully for that purpose. He just wasn't sure if he was trying to do it to keep him from looking into his carefully constructed amusement park or he genuinely was making an offer to park himself _here_ and see if they could amuse themselves. Jack had to fight to stay focused. _Fuck this guy, he's good but two can play at this game._ “I guess that leads to the question of how inviting that entrance is.”

“For someone with expert hands, it's more of a pleasure to manipulate the fruits of your labor to your needs. Programmers just love to push those boundaries, as do most scientists.” Nathan was already in the kitchen tapping panels in the cedar logs to reveal a modern coffee machine and accessories. He was enjoying this and it reminded him of how lonely it had been without anyone to talk to. No—to banter with. It was a delicate dance of words, a verbal chess match, laced with innuendo and purpose. Nathan wished he was more offended by the thought of taking the Marshall to bed to keep him from investigating any further, but it would be a delight to use his body and not his mind to outmaneuver someone for once. He turned and looked to Carter, the man's cheeks were a little flushed. _ Good._ As he grabbed an enameled coffee cup he asked, “How do you take it?”

“_Excuse me_?” Jack felt heat spread through his entire body.

“Your _coffee_.” Nathan said with a barely contained smile.

“Tall...dark, smooth.” Jack said and felt himself losing his battle and just walked over to the kitchen to take the offered cup and make his own drink. He brushed Stark's hand as he took the cup. He hoped he could gain some traction by getting closer to Stark, using some of his physical presence to avoid being completely obliterated with double entendres and sexy smiles. “You?”

“Bold.” Coming into the kitchen, into his space, and taking the cup from his hand to pour his own coffee was a audacious move. He waited for Carter to start pouring the coffee before he added in a husky voice, “Just enough cream to take away the bite, but not enough to deny me the aftertaste.”

That made Jack spill the coffee all over the counter and he had to laugh. Spilling the brew was Stark's intention and he got him with that one. “God damn, you are _good_.”

“You have no idea.” Nathan said, voice low as a growl, and winked.

“I'd like to.” Jack replied honestly and that surprised Stark more than anything. Honesty, _that_ was something that he wasn't used to. He'd have to remember that. “However I have a job to do and I really need you to quit screwing with me and answer my questions.”

“I thought I was.” Nathan countered.

“About _screwing me_, maybe.” Jack grabbed a towel and wiped up the coffee. He looked over as a flicker of confusion flashed over Stark's face. Yeah, he was not used to people being honest with him. That was going to be how he got what he wanted because he wasn't prepared to counter that. “Not about Callister.”

“He hacked his way in and I don't know where he is.” Nathan said, repeating information he had already given and raising his eyebrows as he took a sip of coffee.

“How? How did _you_ not anticipate a potential breach and have counter-measures in place. The guy destroyed your lab and quit, that seems like a huge security issue and something a genius like you would have seen to immediately after his departure.” Jack asked. “Or do those allegations of corporate espionage swing both ways too?”

Nathan licked his lips as Carter took his own turn taking a sip of coffee and looking at him with amusement in his eyes. Beautiful blue eyes that rivaled any pristine lake he had made in this world of his. “He coded in the access. We all do. In case of emergencies or need to access our work after being locked out. I missed it.”

“_You_ missed it?” Jack asked. They were so close now, arms brushing up against each other as they raised the mugs to their lips to drink. This felt like it could be a scene of domestic bliss, lovers sharing a morning coffee together as they prepared for their day. This was certainly not what he was envisioning when he finally found Nathan Stark. Neither one of them was backing away which was a statement in itself. 

“Callister knew me well, he knew what I'd overlook.” Nathan replied and Carter didn't buy it. “To answer your other question, we don't know where he is because of that same reason. He's made himself invisible to the system, the same way your badge makes your presence as law enforcement known.”

“What about the girl?” Carter asked ignoring Stark's glance to the door, indicating he knew why he left his coat outside. 

“Does she have a name?” Nathan asked.

“Zoe Carter.” Jack said and finally shocked Stark. His eyes returned to his immediately, the emotion not masked at all. Honesty seemed to really hit this guy where he least expected it. “My daughter.”

“So this is personal.” Nathan said. “I was curious as to how this fell under the Marshall Service's purview.”

“Yeah.” Jack said and watched the guy's eyes soften for a moment. “It's personal. She's got her problems and I'm not going to make excuses for what she's done, but this is way beyond anything she's ever pulled. I want to find her before she makes mistakes that ruin her life.”

_This Carter has the potential to ruin mine_. Nathan mused, unable to break eye contact with those spectacular blue eyes. “How can I help?”


	10. Smoke Signal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little longer chapter today to make up for not posting yesterday.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 10

**Smoke Signal**

* * *

“Tell me about Callister. You apparently knew him best. Where would he go? What is he here to do?” Jack asked and watched Nathan's expression, hoping to catch some unspoken information or a lie.

“He burned his house down, in addition to my lab, when he left.” Nathan finally walked away from the kitchen sink with his coffee to lean against the kitchen table. It was difficult to focus when he was that close to Carter.

“Girlfriend? Parents?” Jack asked and saw a brief wince. He was curious what that was about.

“Sheriff Lupo was his girlfriend and he wouldn't compromise her by showing up on her doorstep. He left in the middle of their growing relationship, he seemed to be making a life here and then he did the unexpected and destroyed it all.” Nathan replied and looked into his coffee, ignoring the question about Callister's parents and hoping Carter with latch on to another tidbit and leave that alone.

“Over the recycling of the robots?” Jack asked.

“Yes. Callister didn't want them sold." Nathan took a sip of coffee and then let his eyes return to Carter's. "He had concerns about them being reprogrammed and used in ways that were immoral.”

“Yet shooting and killing them here is _not_ immortal?”

“It's a part they play. They are given backstories and are complete with character flaws and assets. They're given a life. They interact with the environment based upon those parameters. They were allowed to make decisions-- to a point. They learn, they love...they are valued.” Nathan said and looked into his coffee. “When we sell them we will take that away and make them simple robots. We'll remove the programming that made them almost human, and install a basic AI in it's place. They will carry out their jobs like a machine. He didn't agree with that.”

“Sort of like the difference between people who believe their dog deserves to sit on the couch with them versus the people who leave them chained up in the yard?” Jack said.

“Yeah. The concept of inhumane treatment differs from owner to owner.” Nathan said and sipped his coffee. “Callister didn't see them as robots anymore. He liked to quote Alan Turning who said that 'God could give a computer a soul if he wanted to'. He believed that we had reached that point, somewhere along the way they became more than just machines. Selling them would be like selling people, and to illustrate the point he unlocked the programming that was preventing them from fully realizing their autonomy. He was trying to make a point and that didn't go the way he hoped.”

“That was two years ago, which lead to him destroying the new models and in turn forcing you to keep the 1.0 models as employees.”

“Yes.” Nathan said. “It also destroyed the only copy of the Free Will code that he wrote, as the 1.0 models returned to where they were made and then were destroyed in the fire. That prevented us from studying them and it.”

“What exactly are you trying to sell _now_ that would make this genius escape federal custody and come all the way back here?” Jack asked. "He's asking to be caught."

“The 1.0 models are all obsolete.” Nathan said. “Every one, except Deputy Andy, has been replaced by a 2.0 model. They're taking up space and I'm getting pressure from the government to do a little quid pro quo.”

“Meaning?”

“Beverly Barlow, our local bed and breakfast owner, sold sensitive information. She gathered it all from high ranking government employees who confided in her thinking she was a human shrink and that hasn't been forgotten by those burned by that.” Nathan looked Carter in the eye and wished he could curse him for compelling him to be honest about this. However this was all information Carter had already dug up, he wasn't telling him anything new. It just irked him that he answering this on his terms, but they both had kids in danger now and he could use a little help himself. He needed to convince Carter that taking Callister back into custody was not an option. “Now those people are in a place of power and are considering working on regulations that would hurt Global Dynamics. Senator Wen. Congressmen Faraday. Plenty of others.”

“Always comes down to politics, doesn't it?” Jack said bitterly.

“You have no idea what it takes to keep this place running and I hope you never do.” Nathan said and looked out the window as something caught his eye. A flash of light, like a meteor streaking out of the sky. That was ludicrous, there was no meteor showers in the schedule for at least a week and it would never happen during the day. It certainly wouldn't happen here where guests would never see it. There was another streak of light and he had to put his coffee down and go look.

Jack watched Stark's eyes go from cold, to focused, to curious in the blink of an eye. Then he was moving across the kitchen to look out a window and Jack turned just in time to see what he was looking at. He moved across the counter to join him, the small window meant they brushed shoulders but the moment was hard to dwell on when a fireball came out of the sky and splashed into the lake with a hiss of steam. “Well that can't be good.”

Nathan turned and had to turn _into_ Carter who was crowding him into a corner. Under other circumstances he would have made more of it, but he needed to start making calls and getting answers. Carter didn't move, just crowded him more for a better view, and didn't even realize his head was basically pressed against his shoulder. A little lower and Carter would be able to hear his heart beating and know what his proximity did to him. 

Jack looked up as two more pieces of flaming _something _came in hot, aiming for the lake. Then one exploded mid air, while the other made it to the water with a poof of steam. The one that blew up, sent shrapnel everywhere and a piece hit the cabin window and bounced off into the garden. Together he and Stark looked down, trying to figure out what the hell it was. “Is that...a goose head?”

Nathan was distracted by a flash of something moving towards the dock, and then realized it was Taggart. He was taking off his clothes and screaming as he went, obviously planning to jump in the lake to save whatever the debris was. _What the hell?_

“Taggart's geese?” Jack said. “I guess Thorne's software update is as bad as the GPS in my car. It told me to turn into a lake once...”

“I doubt your car caught on fire. This is something unrelated to software. The geese are coming to the lake to put the fires out. Their software is working fine, this is self preservation.” Nathan said and looked up as Taggart dove into the lake. So Thorne was sending out her own drones to hunt down Callister? _Fantastic._

“There...were seven geese.” Jack said and noted Stark's rapid relay of information. They were finally getting down to business and this was the genius who build Global Dynamics, not just the flirty guy underneath it all. Jack couldn't help but be a little turned on by it though, he appreciated someone who took charge and was competent. This guy _knew_ his shit. “He dragged those damned things all the way from home office and then all the way to the mines. They honked the whole time. I know how many he had.”

“Let me get some boots on, clearly my lunch break is over.” Nathan said and walked back to his bedroom to get socks and boots and prepare himself to monitor how much information Carter and Thorne were able to harvest.

“Does this happen a lot?” Jack asked.

“No.” Nathan said curtly.

“Could it be some kind of electronic shut down device like they have in the movies?” Jack asked as Nathan was occupied and he really didn't want this distraction to end this conversation. He was getting nowhere on learning about his fugitive! “Since the geese were supposed to be looking for Callister, could he have used one of those against them?”

“EMP?” Nathan sat on his bed and considered the Marshall and his questions. Carter was sharp, he wasn't being distracted by anything. He was also a long way from done with his interview. “They were still functional, Carter. An EMP would disable them and they would fall out of the sky like a rock.”

“Instead they flew to the lake next to _your _house, next to _your_ lab, in order to put the fires out.” Jack said as Nathan came out of his bedroom wearing tall western riding boots over his pants. The barefoot look he had going before was _nice_, the boots looked _very_ nice. Jack had to clear his throat. Some much for not letting distraction get in the way of his investigation.

“You think Callister is sending me a message _via goose_?” Nathan asked, trying not to look impressed by Carter's ability to set him up to get to the point he wanted. Of course he'd correct him about the EMP, Carter knew from those movies that would be an instant kill and he knew from experience that someone like him would pounce on an opportunity to set him straight. He couldn't help but give him a smile to show he appreciated Carter's clever little conversational plays. A smile that said he was about to get a dose of his own medicine soon.

“A cross between a smoke signal and carrier pigeon? It's is the old west.” Jack shrugged.

“What's the message? My world is about to go down in flames?” Nathan asked skeptically.

“Maybe it's like the fable, the goose who laid the golden egg.” Jack offered. “A single golden egg a day doesn't get someone rich enough, they want to cut the goose open and get the eggs all at one and in doing so...lose it all.”

“That's clever, Carter, but hardly Callister's style.” Nathan said as he moved over to Carter to smile at him, it was a smug smile that said loud and clear he was liking this game of theirs. He was good, however he had a pawn of his own to protect in this match. “Perhaps it's a message from your daughter, if the Carter household is big on folk tales?”

“It's a huge coincidence the geese land here.” Jack countered, a little too quickly. Nathan knew what he was doing, mentioning Zoe.

“The closest lake to where they were released? I'm sure Taggart would have released them close to Eureka because of the proximity to the EM field.” Nathan countered, eager to make his move to capture that pawn that Carter was trying to get out of his reach.

“Their first flight with recently installed software specifically made to find Callister?” Jack asked as Nathan got close to him again to finish his coffee.

“Taggart's also raised them like his own, they have some instinct to come back to him, _especially_ on their first flight which went disastrously wrong.” Nathan said and leveled his gaze at Carter over his coffee cup. “It's a strong bond. Just as you have the instinct to protect your daughter, they returned to the safety of their parent knowing he would protect them. Speaking of coincidence, I find it interesting that out of all the people in the country that Callister could have teamed up with, he finds the daughter of a US Marshall.”

“Leave her out of this...”

“I can't.” Nathan said and saw a flash of anger in the good humored man and liked it. He continued to press him. “What are the odds? What does your teenage daughter have that would be worth the risk of hauling her across the country? He could have left her at a bus stop and sent her home, instead she's accompanying him on his quest. He's a genius computer programmer, he could hack his way into and out of anywhere, so what does she bring to this?”

“Me.” Jack said and he meant it as a threat, a way of telling Stark to cut the shit and realize that this was a real mess his former assistant was in. It was supposed to be something akin to the movies, when the Marshall loaded up his guns and showed how damned dangerous it was to mess with the law. Instead it ended up being a revelation for both of them. Jack felt his anger subside, he watched Stark lift his chin as he considered this new information, and the both uncoiled from their aggression. _Me? Could he really be trying to get my attention? Why? _ “She's just a kid. She runs away from home for attention and she was impersonating a flight attendant on the plane that he was being transported on.”

“A hell of a coincidence.” Nathan said softly.

“This isn't about me or her.” Jack said and looked outside as a goose with feathers on fire went running across Stark's lawn. “This is about figuring out what Callister wants. Right now, he apparently wants a bunch of recently deployed surveillance geese destroyed.”

“Or this is exactly why we field test before putting anything into service.” Nathan said and brought his cup over to the sink just in time to see two geese running around his yard in flames as Taggart ran after them naked, trying to put them out with his suede scout jacket. “You should ask Taggart what caused this. I can't answer your questions, I didn't write the software.”

“Who did?”

“With as quickly as it was accomplished and with as sensitive a task as it was....my guess is Zane Donovan.”

“Sheriff Lupo's fiance.”

“Coincidence, huh?” Nathan practically sang and walked towards the door. “Or maybe it's basic statistics. We're in a controlled environment with a small pool of people, there will be a lot of overlap and increased occurrences because of the condensed population and location. You, however, happen to be the one from the outside world with a daughter who is inclined to help a fugitive escape custody. You're the one asking a lot of questions that don't have anything to do with Callister Raynes.”

“Yeah, because none of this makes sense, Stark.” Jack said and followed him. “Your people hate you, yet love working here. You're tossing your computer programmer, who runs the _entire place_, out as a red herring on this goose issue and I'm not going to bite. The closest person to you comes back with obvious intentions to destroy your world and you aren't the slightest bit concerned. Your old robots are on the auction block and it doesn't make sense to let anyone have a chance to copy them and capitalize on your niche market unless you are strapped for money. That can't be the case or you wouldn't have the cash to pay these overly educated people what they are obviously worth. It makes me think that you _want_ him to destroy the 1.0 models before they can be sold. Sounds like a great reason to have a representative of the _real_ Marshall Service here to witness it so the blame isn't placed on you.”

Nathan grabbed his coat and opened the door. Jack was following him and was right beside him when he stopped to look him in the eye. “Enjoy your wild goose chase, Carter, I need to get back to work.”

“Stark...”

“If you refocus on that 'always get our man' thing, you know where to find me.” Nathan said and winked.

“That's the motto of the Mounties.” Jack replied. Seemed like a genius would know that and it felt like a deliberate mistake. 

“I wasn't talking about work, Marshall.” Nathan stepped out onto his porch and put on his coat. He made a show of making sure it laid over him properly, running his hands over his chest in the process. He picked up Carter's coat and handed it to him. “_Definitely_ was talking about getting mounted.”

“Are you telling me to 'get fucked'?” Jack realized, with the coat and badge being so close he couldn't say too much more. He took the coat from Stark, and as he did Stark stepped closer to him and picked up his hat and set it on his head. They locked eyes as Stark's hands released the hat. Then there was a very _very_ deliberate and arousing stroke of his cheek, which lead to a finger being placed on his lips. Jack's brain screamed, his heart almost exploded and he had to suppress the urge to take that finger into his mouth and suck it. He swallowed hard and looked at Stark and realized he was telling him to be quiet. Although there was a quirk of an eyebrow and a shine of lust in those stunning hazel eye that said there was much _much_ more in this act than just warning him about eavesdropping. Especially as he rolled the finger off his lips, his fingertip dragging his lower lip as it went. Jack took a long trembling breath as soon as Stark took his hand away, he had no intention of denying how bad he wanted this guy.

“That's the idea.” Nathan said, his voice a low and husky rumble from deep within his chest. “See you around, Jack.”

And with that he turned and stepped off the porch, long legs able to stride over the steps into the lush green grass in one step. The frock coat flowed around him, covering the body Jack had appreciated on his walk up to the cabin yet not detracting from the beauty of the man in the least. Jack had to lean against a porch support in order to avoid falling over. He felt like his world was spinning and he knew it was because of Nathan Stark. 


	11. The Magnificent Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No real geese were harmed in this installment.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 11

**The Magnificent Seven**

* * *

Jack took a few minutes to get his heart rate under control before leaving the porch to go check on Taggart. His thoughts were everywhere but where they needed to be because he knew Stark would make good on his offer if he showed up tonight. That, however, was not why he was here! He needed to focus! Focus on finding his kid instead of fantasizing about the guy who made it sound like this was all _his _fault.

Maybe it was. It was a hell of a coincidence that _his _daughter happened to be on _that _flight with Callister Raynes; a fake flight attendant on a flight pre-screened by Marshalls for fugitive transport. Maybe she had help because someone wanted her on that plane in order to get to him.

It made more sense than Zoe throwing her life away to help a stranger, no---a fugitive, escape federal custody and break into a secure private facility. She never cared for robots and didn't even open that robotics kit he bought her for Christmas! None of her stunts over the years even came close to this and she was way too smart to get in this escalated level of trouble. Raynes must have specifically targeted her, knowing he'd come after his daughter and do his best to keep this fiasco quiet to protect her. The guy stole money from the US Marshall Service, he had been in their computer, he knew how to access personal files. 

He had to admit, there was a lot of shady stuff going on around here that would go unnoticed except by someone with a trained eye for criminal intent. Callister has to know that in order to find him hiding in this little western world, he was going to have to interview everyone. He knew these people and he would know that everyone would openly provide him with information that made a million alarms go off in his cop brain. This train of thought was _exactly_ what he needed to get Nathan's naked body and husky words out of his head, the realization that he may have unknowingly put his daughter in danger.

He walked towards Taggart, who was now sitting in the grass cradling a goose body and tried to not gag at the smell of burnt feathers. He still held his coat in his hand and thought about taking the badge off and flinging it in the lake, but knew it would only serve to get him ejected from the park for not playing by the rules. One thing was certain, was that he was not getting anywhere and he was in dire need of an ally. Jack walked up to the man who would fill that role, bent down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder as he cried into a blob of metal and melted feathers. “I'm sorry, man.”

“My babies...” Taggart sniffled.

“Are you going to be OK?” Jack asked.

“I...just don't know how this could have happened.” Taggart said and a piece of goose skin broke away from the mechanical body and sloughed onto the ground.

“Was it the software update?” Jack prodded, feeling a little guilty of taking advantage of the guy in his distressed state.

“It would have corrupted their computer systems if that was the case. They wouldn't have known where the lake was in order to land in it if the software had destroyed their navigational systems.” Taggart said.

“Can we take them to Stark's lab to autopsy them and figure it out?” Jack asked and looked across the lake as Stark made his way to a warehouse on foot. He wanted to get in there but he had enough of Stark dishing questions back at him for a while and he really needed to get his shit together before getting close to him again. He'd come back later, take him up on that invite, and stake out his lab from the comfort of his cabin tonight. That was a solid plan and it made his heart rate speed up a little.

“Necropsy.” Taggart corrected him. “And no, if it's some kind of virus we can't take the risk of bringing them in contact with other A.I.s . We have to treat this as we would any biological contagion, we need to quarantine them and figure out what went wrong.”

“Take them where? Eureka?” Jack asked. He was still hoping to get there and interview people, but felt like it was going to be more dead ends.

“Oh no, mate.” Taggart shook his head. “Definitely not there. Eureka is very secure and very technically advanced, definitely can't take that risk. I'll bring them back to my farm and run diagnostics.”

Jack felt his alliance slipping away, he really needed Taggart's help and for that they needed a common foe. “Look, I'm getting the run around here and I am not any closer to finding Callister Raynes. I do find it a weird coincidence that these geese were put into play to find him and almost immediately taken out. Could Callister be behind this?”

“He's a genius computer programmer but I don't see how he could infect these geese with a virus. I've been with them the whole time prior to their release. ” Taggart stroked the head of the goose in his lap. “The software was created and installed on a separate server, a brand new one. He couldn't have had access to it unless he was in the on-site office. I don't see how they could have been infected, as they operate independently, they would only transfer data when hooked up to the computer. While they were in flight they were on their own, working purely on their A.I. programming.”

“Could something have infected them _in the air_?” Jack was throwing out ideas, hoping Taggart would give him a leg to stand on here.

“No. The skin of the robots is an insulator. It protects them from electronic interference and from interfering with electronics. It's basically a faux flesh casing for their protection and everyone else's.”

“Why would they catch on fire?” Jack asked. “Was it internal or external?”

“Ahhh...good question.” Taggart said and picked up the singed goose that was still intact. He had powered it off to save it from the pain. He examined it and said, “It was an external source. Look here...it looks like they were targeted with an intense heat source that caught their feathers on fire.”

“Like a magnifying glass burning an ant?” Jack suggested.

“Perhaps a solar flare...” Taggart said thoughtfully then glanced up at the sky and whispered, “The Pheonix Effect.”

“I was thinking more like _a laser_ from the ground?” Jack said and Taggart looked at him appreciatively.

“Well that would be more likely.”

“So someone attacked your geese?” Jack kept leaning him towards his desired target as Taggart hugged the goose. “And I suspect it has to do with Callister Raynes.”

“That would make sense. He didn't want robots being weaponized and this software was a precursor to that.”

Jack didn't have to ask how geese could be weaponized as he had been mercilessly pecked by geese at a petting zoo as a kid. They definitely could be weaponized. “Help me find him, Taggart. I'm getting nowhere and I could use an expert tracker and his anomaly sniffing dog to help me find this guy before he does any more damage. Let's find teh guy who did this to your geese.”

“OK, Marshall.” Taggart said with a huge grin as he held out his feather and goo covered hand. “You have a deal.”

Jack took it, shook it, and gritted his teeth as the skin goo squished between their fingers. Some kind of weird pact, he was sure of it from the way Taggart smiled at him. Jack now had a Deputy of sorts, that was a step in the right direction. “I'll help you gather them up and get them back to your farm.”

“Much appreciated, Marshall!” Taggart said and let go of his hand and set his goose down. “Let me get a T.R.A.S.H. bag for them.”

Jack looked at him appalled. After all that crying and pitiful 'my babies', he was just going to put them in a _garbage_ bag? He got goose goo on his hands and the guy didn't even like them enough to get a proper carrier? “_Seriously_?”

“T-R-A-S-H bag.” Taggart spelled it out and smiled at him, glad his new friend had come to care for his babies as much as he did. “Transport. Rucksack. Accommodating. Safe. Handling.”

“OK.”

“Since their skin has been compromised their guts are exposed and we need to protect them. We don't want to infect anything or compromise our samples. The T.R.A.S.H. bag will shield them from the world and the world form them, like a protective womb of a mother.” Taggart said stood up. “It will also protect the horses from catching anything they have too.”

Jack shut his eyes as Taggart stood, getting a very vivid reminder that the guy was completely naked now that he wasn't sitting in the grass with a pile of exploded geese in his lap. He walked off to get his bags and Jack remained crouched next to the remains of the seven geese. He looked down at his coat and saw the sun catch the metal of his badge and make it glisten. Probably the camera, the metal wasn't polished enough to catch the suns rays like that. Figuring he had nothing to lose at this point, because he hadn't gained much other than a mighty thirst for Nathan Stark, he unpinned the badge and pulled one of the intact geese over to him. The badge was too large to be forced down it's throat, and he could too easily recall images from a foie gras expose Zoe made for a school project, so he looked for another cavity to hide it in. Of course there was only one left. So, saying some silent apologies to the Marshalls of the past, he shoved the symbolic emblem up the mechanical goose's ass.


	12. Top Gun

_Westworld_

Chapter 12

**Top Gun**

* * *

As Jack and Taggart rode out of the logging camp and back towards the main road, he finally felt free enough to work. He may not have learned much about Callister or where he might be, but he had learned a lot about WestWorld and it's highly controlled environment. He had accepted that the badge was a marker of his 'visitor' status here and gave the staff and advantage over him, but he didn't realize how much he had been holding himself back. It was like he had a constant supervisor, someone looking over his shoulder at all times. It wasn't until Stark put his finger on his lips that he considered that maybe not everyone was working against him.

_Oh god_, that finger! Ugh. And there was that flush of warmth again as he recalled that arousing touch and licked his lips without realizing why. He had to close his eyes in order to compose himself. Just the thought of Stark could take his breath away and that was not helping_ at all_! He needed to get his shit together, especially now that they were almost out of the cover of the trees. It would be obvious to Taggart what he was thinking about if he had beet red cheeks when they returned to the sunshine of the plains. A few deep breaths and he was ready to go. He opened his eyes just in time to see light shining outside the forest canopy indicating they were back at the main road.

“My farm is this way, but I'd understand if you wanted to keep looking for your man, Marshall.”

Jack couldn't tell if that was about hunting a criminal or turning around and running back to Stark's cabin. He didn't want to lose Taggart, he needed him to help him narrow down the location of where this goose death ray came from. “Uh, actually I hoped I could accompany you? We're a team now. You're my deputy and we have a crime to solve. You're the Goose to my Maverick.”

“Ahh..” Taggart said softly and turned to his new friend with a sappy smile. “I can't tell you how much this means to me, Marshall. This day, hasn't been easy.”

“I can understand it's been a rough day, I'm a parent myself. You just never know what they'll get into when they spread their wings and fly.” Jack said. It was the best he could come up with and Taggart ate it up.

“Someone put my babies through pain and trauma and I'm going to have to wipe their memories of that in order for them to fly again. Or maybe...I can use this as a rehabilitation exercise....” Taggart glanced at the T.R.A.S.H. bags hanging off his saddle horn thoughtfully.

“Yeah.” Jack felt like Taggart froze up and was back to wondering if he was a robot. “Poultry PTSD is an often overlooked field of study.”

“You better believe it.” Taggart said and they started riding towards his farm. "This is murder most fowl."

Jack took a moment to recover from the pun and pick up on the fact that there might be data stored on the birds. Data that would pinpoint the location of that death ray that took them down. He definitely had to be there when Taggart opened them up. He nudged his horse to catch up with him so they could ride side by side. “Hey, uh, you said the geese wouldn't report anything back to home office, that they had to be hooked up to a computer after their flight in order to pull the information off?”

“Yeah.” Taggart nodded and then looked over at his new friend and said more emphatically, “Yes! Evidence of the crime! The software will have recorded that data! Here I wanted to investigate what happened and they can tell us...”

“The location of the attacker.” Jack said with a nod.

Taggart's grin faded. “Oh, only problem is that I don't have access to _that_ computer. If we connect to it, then the information will upload to the server and everyone in the office will know.”

“Any way we can get around that?” Jack asked. He felt Taggart was definitely on his side now! He didn't want home office seeing this and pulling the plug on his investigation, that was great news!

“Henry probably has something.” Taggart said. “He'll have a way to run diagnostics on them remotely. He has everything.”

“Back to town then?” Jack asked and realized that was going to be tricky. He could get caught not having his badge, there were too many people and robots there for him to be able to ride into the stable and ask for help.

“Nah, we'll send him a message.” Taggart said with a wink.

“By carrier pigeon?” Jack asked. He still wasn't sure how to play by the rules of this place. “Telegraph?”

“If you want.” Taggart replied and pointed to the telegraph lines that ran alongside a railroad track in the distance. “You can climb up one of those poles, splice into the lines and tap out a message. How good is your Morse code?”

“Passable.” Jack said and shook his head. “Not so great with heights.”

“OK, we'll just send the horse like I planned.” Taggart said with a smile. “Just wanted to give you the opportunity to have an adventure if you were looking for it.

“Trust me, this is already memorable enough. I don't need to be prolonging my manhunt on account of needing to experience more western themed stuff.” Jack said.

“Hopefully that won't stop your from appreciating _nature._”

Jack now saw the one drawback to his new friendship, now that Taggart was wiggling his eyebrows and obviously hinting at his _thing _with Stark. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, “Did you say, send _the horse_?”

“Yeah. If Trigger returns to the stable without you, Henry will come looking for you.”

“Because Henry's the coroner?” Jack asked. 

“Henry can play back the last thing he sees from the horse's eyes and if we tell the horse what we need him to know, then he will come with the right tools for the job. The animals are are e-mail around here.”

“Except Lo-Jack. Who probably knows where Callister is but isn't telling us.”

“He's an enigma that one. Likes to keep his secrets.”

Jack let the conversation die there since he was obviously never going to get help from the dog. He almost asked 'If the animals can record things, then some squirrel or something must have caught Callister on tape!' but then he remembered this goose nonsense was because Callister has some kind of invisibling device that kept him from being seen by any computer in the park. That didn't mean Callister was without a way to tap into the surveillance footage though.

That made him look at the long lines of poles and telegraph wires that ran parallel to the railroad tracks and consider that this incident might very well be a message of it's own. His badge tracked his progress through the park and those geese landed in Stark's pond _while_ he was there. They could have been shot down while he was in the mines or talking to the alchemist or even on the ride up to the logging camp while Stark was swimming naked. They weren't. They coincidentally were shot down while he was in Stark's cabin and his badge was resting on a pile of firewood on his porch within view of the pond.

GD wasn't the only one watching him, Callister was too. Which meant that this was a deliberate attempt to get his attention. Stark was right, this goose thing was a message from his daughter. Callister seemed like he would be as upset about hurting fake geese as Taggart was about them being hurt, even if they were being used by GD to find him. Which meant that Zoe was the one reaching out. This was a beacon to her location, now he just needed to get the information and get to her without being caught.

A hell of a twist on his usual role and he was definitely glad he got rid of the badge. He just hoped he could be as good at hiding and manipulating the system as Zoe was, because that was not his modus operandi. He might not have gained any insight into Callister Raynes, but he knew Zoe Carter pretty damned well and it was time to focus on finding her.


	13. Blazing Saddles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Eureka, afterall, you can't forget that.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 13

**Blazing Saddles**

* * *

“Hey Taggart?” Jack asked, breaking the silence as the came around the bend and saw the collapsed railroad bridge that he assumed to be the way in to Eureka. They were descending into a valley now, having ridden around the mountain far enough to change terrain. It was a beautiful lush paradise, with plenty of animals coming here to graze and drink. He could see a ranch and assumed that was Taggart's farm, but had a hard time drinking in the beauty of it when the twisted remains of a railroad bridge was right in front of him. It reminded him of that movie, the Great Train Robbery, with the way the bridge was broken apart and a whole damned train lay embedded in the bank. It was something he couldn't pry his eyes from, the remains of a disaster from the past that was now simply part of the scenery. It made him wonder how much had been scrapped around here, other than the story lines and robots.

“Yes, Marshall?”

“Do you have a map of WestWorld by chance? Like an old one, from two years ago when Callister was here last?”

“Back at the house, yes.” Taggart said. “But since it's from a previous narrative it will have a few locations that might have been demolished or re-purposed.”

“As in?” Jack asked.

“_Warehouse 13._” Taggart said in a hushed whisper.

“Like the Sci-Fi show?” Jack asked.

“No, as in the tumbleweed episode of _Fullmetal Alchemist._” Taggart said. “It's a _were_house, like a werewolf. It only comes out during a full moon.”

“So it disappears and reappears, like that barn in the show _Haven_?” Jack asked. He was getting the hang of this place. Just about anything seemed to be possible.

“You watch a lot of TV.”

“Divorced and on the road a lot means I have my evenings free.” Jack explained. The fugitive transport and tracking life was not as glamorous as the movies made it out to be. He didn't want to get into the details with Taggart, especially since he felt like the train wreck in the river was symbolic of his own marriage. “About the warehouse. _How_ does it only show up at certain times?”

“Wormholes.”

“What?” Jack regretted thinking he was prepared for everything WestWorld was going to throw at him.

“They're a tunnel-like connection thru space-time...”

“I know what wormholes are.” Jack said. “Remember the conversation from two minutes ago about me watching a lot of Sci-Fi? I saw _Farscape_. That however, is science _fiction_.”

“Long way from it,” Taggart said. “Here in WestWorld Warehouse 13 originally was the place the robots could retreat to when injured or after being called back from the field. It was hidden behind a hologram in the early years, a lot like the mines or the bridge to Eureka over there. However it became somewhat of a legend after a few guests spent the night out on the prairie and saw animals disappearing into what they thought was a glitch. The writers, namely Fargo, took advantage of that and spun this great narrative about a warehouse that can only be seen during a full moon. So then a new quest was created to find that building and the treasure within. It helped us hide the goof with the original warehouse and figure out a better way of handling it.”

“Which was, making the whole building_ disappear_?” Jack asked. Who did that? Who created wormholes to avoid bringing their broken robots into the secure laboratory? How was that a logical jump?

“Well _that _came after Martha, one of the A.I.s from town, went to the warehouse after being given the Free Will programming and set many of the robots free and then went rogue.” Taggart said. “After that we needed a better storage option for the damaged or removed A.I.s and that is when the Warehouse became a destination instead of a location. Pretty cool, huh?”

_Not cool!_ Not cool _at all_! If Callister was able to leap all over WestWorld using wormholes and disappearing-reappearing buildings, he was screwed! Or maybe...this was the way GD prevented Callister from coming back and freeing the robots again! There _was _a security protocol in place...it just went really overboard on the whole _off-site_ warehouse description. “Wait, the robots go there for repair? I thought that was what Stark's lab was?”

“No, that's a research lab that happens to be a warehouse. There are warehouses where they store the robots or repair them.”

“Taggart?” Jack asked cautiously, feeling like the answer he had been looking for was about to jump up and smack him in the face. “Where are the retired 1.0 model robots being stored?”

“One of the warehouses. For security reasons the number isn't known by anyone other than upper management. In fact, nobody knows how many warehouses there really are. The robots know that number 13 is the one they can go to for safety. Quite clever really, historically leaving the number thirteen out of buildings was done for superstitious reasons, nobody will think it's missing if it was never there to begin with.”

“Right.” Jack said. He had been in plenty of old buildings were there was no floor thirteen because of when the building was built. “Is there some kind of Wormhole Grand Central station that GD employees can navigate to get where they need to be?”

“Most have access in their houses. Wormhole travel requires two bridge devices and they are set in specific locations and are only in tun with each other. For example, Carl Carlson, who works on tissue regeneration. He has a direct route to his warehouse from his home in Eureka. Which, between you and me, is a good thing because Sheriff Cobb used to have to pick him up for work everyday because the guy is an absolute wreck even if he's an incredible scientist.”

“You're telling me there are wormholes _everywhere_?” Jack asked incredulously. He wasn't a scientist but he knew that wormholes were a pretty big deal in oh...time travel? Space travel? What the fuck was going on here that these people took a wormhole to work!? “I need to know these things!”

“Well, yes and no. Wormholes are pretty unstable and can randomly appear, but in doing research on them for larger scientific endeavors, Charles Grant determined he could easily jump small distances using two modified Einstein-Grant bridge devices. Named after his grandpa, cool he picked up his work isn't it! Kinda wish I had kids to take up my research when I'm gone.” Taggart explained. “Anyhow, the wormholes are used by researchers who have to conduct their work inside the park, for safety reasons, but also used by management to keep those researchers out of the park for safety reasons. Carlson is not someone you want to stumble across, trust me.”

Jack's mind was blown. There was so much the people here accepted as norm that they almost didn't see the big picture. “Taggart? You...ever maybe consider that a scientific breakthrough like this might be used for other applications other than commuter vehicle for weird people?”

“Well there was hot debate when we started using the technology about whether or not we were being cheated time, pay wise, because the bridge device works inside a vacuum of space time. However it was proven that any time gained is lost upon the return trip and it's negated.”

Jack took a deep breath. Not what he was going for, but Taggart _was_ a scientist. “So everyone has a wormholing device in their house?”

“Of course, how else do you think everyone gets to work?” Taggart asked. “If we all boarded a train or rode a horse back into Eureka when our shift was up, we'd have the original Warehouse 13 fiasco all over again_ in our hometown_. A lot of the guests have been here so much they would have noticed a train disappearing across the bridge without falling into the river. Especially since that's a great fishing spot.”

Jack let the conversation die again as his mind was absolutely reeling from all this. There were scientists using unheard of technology to jump from their living room to the invisible warehouses located out in the park. Or maybe not invisible, he remember a few in town and there was some at the mine and Stark had one and...._God_. What the hell was this place?

The answer had been handed to him already, it was the 'most scientifically advanced research facility in the world' and it was operating right under everyone's nose. Nathan Stark was one clever son of a bitch. He built a scientific paradise, using the theme park as funding and cover for all of it. No wonder there were rocket scientists, space shuttle engineers and wormhole makers living and working here. They could do so in secret and market their discoveries through Global Dynamics. This was scary good and he suddenly respected Stark a lot more. Granted the guy seemed to be setting himself up as a movie villain hell bent on global domination, but it didn't mean he couldn't appreciate what he made here.

However, selling the robots and pissing off Callister seemed like a oversight. That didn't make sense. Drawing government attention to WestWorld would only cause problems, especially if he had uncovered all this in just half a day. Except there was that 'pressure from the government' thing Stark had dropped in his lap, naming names. That seemed like a slip up, but he doubted that man was ever less then ten steps ahead of him at any given time. He wished he had his cell phone and could call the main office, he really needed more details on the money that Callister stole from the Marshall Service. Something was telling him that had significance, even if he had yet to learn anything about the guy.

He could see why the government would want to know what was going on here and have a piece of it. Especially if someone built all this on land they thought was a toxic waste garbage dump. Thinking about garbage made him look at the T.R.A.S.H. bags swinging from Taggart's saddle, it started him thinking about ways that were in plain sight to shield things from the watchful eyes all around them.

“Home sweet home.” Taggart said as they rode through a big welcoming wooden gate into a corral. “I'll bring the geese to the barn, if you want to follow me there. You can get your stuff out of your saddle bags and send Trigger back with the message you want to relay to Henry.”

Jack got off his horse and didn't bother with the saddle bags because he didn't bring anything with him. He took the horse's head in his hands and looked him in the eye. “OK, Trigger, I need you to go back to town and tell Henry we need his help. I need a device....to retrieve the last memories of the geese that just got shot down with a laser death ray. There was a special program written and put it on a separate server for them. So the geese would get plugged in and report back where Callister might be without it going over a network. I need to see where the laser was shot from and the info is in these geese. So if you can get some device thing to read them, I'm at Taggart's Ranch. Ok...Trigger....go home. Go back to the barn. Good boy.”

Trigger snorted and blew faux horse mucus all over Jack's face before turning away and taking off, galloping back to town.

Jack wiped his face off with his sleeve. Wormholes everywhere and he was talking to a horse in order to deliver his message. What a day.


	14. The Great Divide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Just a fun little story." I said. "Just a quick little self indulgent fic." "Keep it short chapters to stop yourself from writing so much!"
> 
> Past!Me is a liar and and idiot and knew this would turn into a convoluted mystery and surge way past 40k words before we even see Callister Raynes. I also knew I wouldn't keep it Teen rating once Nathan and Jack started flirting and I'm not willing to give that up yet. Maybe it will just be a side one-shot with the smut, or maybe I have to go to E rating just to pay y'all back for coming on this ride with me. I don't know, I'm making this up as I go. :)
> 
> My writer gut says we're lucky if we're even half way thru this. Shorter chapters allow me to write myself further into the hole I dug and I am sorry.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 14

**The Great Divide**

* * *

“You know, I'm an engineer not a veterinarian.” Henry said as he walked into Taggart's barn carrying a satchel and giving the Marshall a warm smile. “But since _someone _lost his horse, I figured I might as well give you a hand with this malfunction of yours while I brought him back to his rider.”

“Thanks, Henry.” Jack said and had to admit this was a pretty friendly place for being a super secret facility of some kind.

“It also looks like you lost your badge, Marshall.” Henry smirked.

“Must have...fallen off.” Jack said and noted Henry's knowing smile.

“Might have rubbed it off on something at Stark's cabin.” Taggart chirped.

Jack was regretting this friendship with Taggart already, especially when Henry raised his eyebrows at him in a suggestive way. “Yeah, I found Stark.”

“Naked.” Taggart added.

“He was swimming.” Jack clarified. Henry looked amused.

“Naked.” Taggart repeated.

“So he was expecting you?” Henry asked and smiled at the guy who was starting to get a little color to his face. “At ease, Marshall. Like I said before, Nathan was my student. I know him pretty well.”

“You could have warned me.” Jack said. “While you were issuing warnings.”

“WestWorld is about the fantasy and I didn't want to ruin it in case_ that _was one of yours.” Henry said and winked and sat down at the table with the singed geese.

“I appreciate it.” Jack said and waved his hand at the geese on display. “I would really appreciate your help extracting some information from these birds about where they was shot down.”

“What are we dealing with?” Henry asked. “You said there was a special program put on a separate server for them?”

“I think Zane Donovan created the program for Thorne?” Jack offered and that seemed to surprise Henry a little.

“Really?” Henry said.

“Yeah, or at least that's what Stark said. He said Donovan would be the one who made it that fast. Thorne said something about it being on it's own network so it wouldn't get compromised when it was out working.”

“Unlike some of us...” Taggart mumbled under his breath and Henry chuckled.

“OK, this is_ not_ how you play the part of a Deputy, _Taggart_.” Jack said and tried to look intimidating instead of like someone being teased about his crush.

“It's how you play the part of a _wing man_.” Taggart replied and picked up the goose's wing and made it flap at him. He put the wing down and couldn't help himself from raising his hands to his lips and blasting off a goose mating call.

“I appreciate it, even if I feel like your true intentions are to live vicariously through me if I do take him up on his offer.” Jack replied and looked over to the left as a bunch of geese answered Taggart back. He sure knew how to pick 'em. “However we have a mystery to solve....”

“There was an offer?” Henry asked and cocked his head. 

“Way to go, Marshall.” Taggart nodded appreciatively.

“Look,” Jack sighed as Taggart grinned at him and Henry chuckled. “I might need to find out where these wormhole warehouses are and in order to do that I have to get the information from someone with that clearance. My best bet seems to be Stark.”

“I'm impressed, Marshall. For both how far you're getting with your investigation and with Nathan.” Henry said and plugged a handheld device into the port of the mechanical goose. “I'll take a gander at these geese and see what I can turn up.”

“Well usually there isn't any pant dropping before dinner and many many drinks but...” Jack couldn't believe he was being honest with these strangers about his intentions to go revisit Stark tonight. “What I do is for god and country.”

“You'll certainly be thanking God for something tonight.” Taggart said.

“As far as the country...” Henry said, “I'm sure anyone would commend you for your...service.”

“OK guys, enough about me. Read the goose guts and tell me where that death ray came from.” Jack said and then went over to see what Henry's little computer was showing. Not much of anything.

“It's going to take my diagnostic computer a little while to calibrate.” Henry said. “Taggart, if you need to take care of any of the animals, you can.”

“I appreciate that, mate.” Taggart said and jumped to his feet. “The maps you are looking for are over in that feed room, Marshall. There will be a recent one tacked over an older one that will have my own notes about Warehouse 13 on it!”

“Thanks!” Jack said as he watched Taggart grin and leave. Then he looked to Henry and asked, “Aren't the animals all robots?”

“Most of them, but he does have some real ones mixed in so the animal AIs can learn behavior and interact with their own kind.” Henry explained.

“I'm learning something every minute around here.”

“You're apparently very good at your job.” Henry said and started typing on his diagnostic device. “Although I would take what Taggart says with a grain of salt, he's very into the folklore of WestWorld.”

“Oh?” Jack asked. “As in, Warehouse 13?”

“Yeah.” Henry said. “He's a guide for a reason. He real loves the stories and the mythology of the place and new people can get caught up on the narrative very quickly with him.”

“Mythology? As in...the rapid transit wormholes that take you back and forth from home to work?”

“I personally use the passenger car on the train to go home, the train _under the station_. Sorry to disappoint you.” Henry raised his eyebrows and Jack groaned. “We have a pneumatic transit system that goes directly into Eureka. The same pneumatic system that will deliver meals from Cafe Diem straight to the remote locations around Eureka for our very human, very spoiled and very busy scientists. So, even though Nathan is a great cook, I expect he's placed an order for your dinner tonight based upon the preferences you listed while being outfitted to emerge yourself in our world.”

“_Oh._” So much for only one entrance to town and magic wormholes. He cleared his throat, wondering if that mention of a dinner tonight was because someone in town started a rumor already because he had placed that order. Dinner for two at Stark's cabin probably would raise some eyebrows and he recalled Taggart pointing out Cafe Diem in town and...word spread fast around here.

“Don't let that stop you from debating about space-time with Nathan, he enjoys a passionate debate.” Henry smirked.

“I thought you two...didn't get along.” Jack said. “Thorne told me you have some bad history.”

“We used to be friends.” Henry said and tapped keys on his diagnostic equipment. “I think my approach, the lectures and disappointment, only served to drive him further way from what I hope to show him. He really believes he's trying to protect us and that worries me.”

“Oh?” Jack asked.

“I think Callister's betrayal still hurts, I know Kim's death still does. You'd be good for him. Especially if you're getting an invite to come back tonight. For him to be entertaining you _at all_ during all this means something. It means a lot actually.”

“I think it means he knows why Callister is back. I think....” Jack figured why the hell not. He needed to narrow down his questions before turning up on Stark's doorstep again. “I think I surprised him by asking about the whole corporate espionage thing. If the government is really pressuring him to sell old robots, when you guys have tons of remarkable stuff everywhere, I think something is really off. Who wants robots when you can have wormholes? He made it sound like they backed him into a corner because Beverly Barlow sold their information, stuff she gathered when politicians were in her bed and breakfast here in WestWorld. If she was a robot, how did she have the programming to be a spy? That happened before the Free Will thing, didn't it?”

“It did.” Henry said and brought his hand to his mouth to consider that. In an attempt to overload the Marshall with so much information that he wouldn't look to closely at any of it, the head office actually managed to open themselves up to the one man who would make all the connections. No wonder Nathan was attracted to him. “So you're thinking that it was really the other way around, that the government used Beverly as a spy?”

“I..don't know yet.” Jack said. “Nathan said she was some kind of shrink? Or pretended to be. I know how freely people in high stress positions like to unload their troubles on someone who is bound by a confidentiality agreement. My ex-wife is a psychologist. You guys work all the time on some wild stuff and this place is pretty isolated, everyone seems to have a chip on their shoulder and nobody can go that long without having someone to talk to. I get the secrecy of they're working on super science stuff, but everyone needs to vent sometime. You all trust these robots more than you should.”

“Maybe we do. Maybe we make them so they can understand us.” Henry offered.

“I wish I could get a call out of here but they confiscated my phone. I need to do some background research on these people Stark mentioned and see if they are connected to the money Callister took.”

“You're also bound by a confidentiality agreement, Marshall.” Henry reminded him. “It was in the paperwork you signed. Unfortunately that means what you see and learn here, stays here.”

“So I show up and they give me the golden key to the place and take advantage of my free consultation? Am I some stress relief for your boss? I appreciate how open everyone is, but it's not sitting right with me.” Jack leaned over the table and looked Henry in the eye. “Or do I have to worry about being a witness who needs protection instead of the way I usually do that job? In my business, I deal with a lot of people who have seen and know too much and become a liability because of it.”

“I don't think anyone is trying to get rid of you, especially if Nathan invited you back to his place. I can't stress enough how unique that situation is. He would have had you removed from the park if he didn't want you here. He's not the best at handling people questioning him.” Henry sighed. “I think that we live in a microcosm. I think even the most paranoid of us can overlook things. I think fresh eyes can usually shed light on things we've just accepted are in the shadows. I think that Nathan likes that insight because he has made enemies of those people he's surrounded himself with. You're not like us. I also know that whatever Callister is doing is causing glitches in the system and that everyone is on overtime trying to fix it. So their focus is on repairing leaks and not stopping the person punching holes in the dam.”

“_Really_.” Jack said. “What kind of glitches?”

“Mainly environmental, nothing has compromised the AI.s yet.”

“Environmental? Like maybe someone is looking for a warehouse? Like one with all the 'for sale' robots in it?”

Henry nodded. “That would do it. Especially if someone in the office is abusing the wormhole system to move the warehouse to keep it, and it's contents, safe.”

“I thought the Werehouse 13 thing was lore?”

“We have the technology but it's more of an emergency thing. We moved it once, but didn't make a habit of it.” Henry explained. “Statistically the probability of things going wrong increases with each use, especially if we're not studying the pre and post launch data thoroughly. You open a wormhole and someone's arm might be on the warehouse door and be included in the jump. You fail to inspect a target location and you can fuse a building with what is there instead of just dropping a house on a witch. It's still science, it has repercussions, and needs to be practiced with the precautions and respect of tampering with space time.”

“Now,we're getting somewhere.” Jack said excitedly. “So what could happen if Callister does find that warehouse? Could he give the robots that Free Will program and set them all free to save themselves? That's more logical than smuggling a bunch of robots out in T.R.A.S.H. Bags one by one. Or can he take one of those bridge device things and bring it outside the park and send the warehouse there?”

“Wow.” Henry said. “I'm...impressed by how open minded and how well you absorb everything, especially since this is all theoretical science.”

“I know criminals. I especially know fugitives on the run and they will try anything when they know that someone is coming for them. Callister knows he's running out of time. He's not thinking about the consequences if he's trying to stop those robots from having their humanity stripped from them.”

“Well, it's a theoretical possibility but not a reality. The Bridge device is really a prototype, it's being used experimentally by a select few volunteers. Honestly, the glitches may very well be space-time...kinda catching up with the shuffle. Imagine a shell game, you can keep an eye on the cups as someone moves them around slowly but when you start moving faster they become a blur. Now if something as large as a warehouse was being moved than there is a disturbance in the environment where it was sitting...”

“Oh!” Jack said and pointed at him and then the goose. “That's what Thorne said. She said the goose software was looking for environmental disturbances in order to find Callister.”

“Huh.” Henry said and looked at his device. He changed a few things and then grinned when his screen showed him a wealth of data. “Well that is the key I needed to unlock this.”

Jack leaned over and looked at the screen. It was still just gibberish to him. It made sense it was just code, it was a hastily made computer program.

“You're right, this software is looking for anomalies and it's looking for larger disturbances than a human can make. I'd be willing to bet that someone lost a warehouse.”

“Well that can't be good.” Jack said. “What about the location of where the geese were shot down?”

“Get me a map and I'll mark it for you.” Henry said and watched the Marshall dart over to the feed room. “Are you going to relay this information to Nathan?”

Jack got into the feed room and saw maps on the wall. He looked for the one with the most recent date, pulled it down and found one from a few years ago behind it. “Uh....I think he kinda liked me interrogating him a little too much. I thought I'd go back with more ammunition and see what I got out of him...”

“Mmm.” Henry said as Jack came out of the feed room with two maps.

“What? Mmm?” Jack asked with a smile. “Were you really asking 'Are you going to tell him or should I?”

“Kinda.” Henry said. “He'll probably take it better from you.”

“He doesn't strike me as the type to not want to be in control....” Jack took a deep breath. Oh shit...he didn't consider how well endowed Stark was when he started fantasizing about...

“I meant_ the information_.”

“Oh...yeah.” Jack said and threw the maps over the dead goose. “The information about the magic warehouses and the readings from the goose guts! Angering space-time and government conspiracies and....anomaly hunting with mechanical geese.”

Henry grinned as he marked out the location the geese had been shot down from. The one he was plugged in to must have been one of the last to be hit as it had logged the location of the danger. He gave Carter a chance to walk around a bit and play with his hat and ruffle his hair in order to get the dirty thoughts out of his head. Nathan knew how to make a great first impression, that was for sure. He hoped he liked the Marshall as much as it seemed, he was being reclusive during a high alert and that worried him. Callister's reappearance had him rattled and Carter's arrival seemed to rattle him in a different way. He could only hope Nathan accepted the help. “At this point I don't know that I can help you without knowing what is really going on. You're going to have to rely on Nathan's help, if he's offering.”

“He's got all the answers.” Jack said and Henry nodded. Jack bit his lip. “You said this place did more good than bad, that it was a scientific research facility.”

“I did.”

Jack tapped his fingers on the table next to the goose. “It's really impressive. Everything.”

“I'm glad you can see it now.” Henry said. “What made you change your mind?”

“I guess....instinct really.” Jack said and rubbed the back of his neck. Instinct that his daughter wouldn't put him thru _this_ much without reason. “Callister's records could have been cleaned up if he really could hack our federal system, but there was no priors....nothing in there that made this extreme move make sense. Especially because if he was that good, he wouldn't get caught. If he was Stark's assistant than he learned from the best and him sneaking back in here because of some oversight on Stark's part...well that's bullshit. I feel like it was almost some kind of distress signal, otherwise I wouldn't be here. The path was too easy to find and it lead right to Stark's door. So either Callister has it out for Nathan, or he's trying to protect him and this world you built. Everyone here has a reason to betray Stark, but you're all loyal to the idea this place was built on and respect him on some kind of professional level—and none of you were as close as Callister was. So yeah, I'll suspend my disbelief, I'll curb my need to expose what's going on and I'm going to find this guy and see what the hell meant so much he'd risk his life for it.”

Henry smiled at him. Yeah, he'd be great for Nathan. He handed him the maps. “The location is circled. I believe that is Sheriff Cobb's cabin.”

“The guy who thought Callister was up to no good the first time he turned the robots loose?” Jack said and his heart sank.

“The same.” Henry said.

“Great.” Jack huffed and grabbed the maps and prepared to ride out into the woods and find Cobb's cabin. “I'm not going to strand you here by taking my horse back, am I?”

“For this, you might want to take the brown horse out there. Carl is more of a 4x4 vehicle than Trigger. A rough ride but more sure footed, you can come back and get your smooth horse on your way back.“ Henry said and pointed out into the corral. “He was Sheriff Cobb's, he will know the way and probably help advertise you as more than a guest now that you lost your badge. I'll find my way home, don't worry.”

Jack smiled at him. “Thanks Henry.”

“Good luck, Marshall.”


	15. Little House on the Prairie

_WestWorld_

Chapter 15

**Little House on the Prairie**

* * *

At this point in time, Jack wasn't quite sure what lead to focus on. He seemed to be content with the idea that the sun was going down on his first exhausting day in WestWorld and that he planned to end it at Nathan's cabin with dinner, discussion and hopefully a lot more.

Ok, to be honest, he was was more than content about that. He was having a hell of a time keeping Nathan out of his thoughts as he rode from place to place and he had never been one to let his thoughts stray while he was hunting someone down. In fact he was usually hyper-focused while working, something that ruined his marriage, and it was odd to him that he felt comfortable letting his thoughts drift. He wanted to say he barely knew the guy, but he did a ton of research and there was undeniable chemistry when they met. He did feel guilty that he was more focused on his 'date' than finding his daughter, but at this point he recognized that she had the means to communicate with him if she was in real danger. He also was not making much progress in pinpointing her location and would need Nathan to help him with that, which lead him to believe that was the plan all along.

He was also confident in the assessment that Zoe wasn't the only one acting out for attention and it made him think about Nathan's reaction when he asked if Callister had parents. That wince, the fact that Callister was close enough to know him....this guy was more than just some assistant. Nathan was his mentor and they were obviously close. Close enough that this reminded him of his own kid and how far they had drifted from each other, and how he used his vacation time to hunt her down instead of spend time with her.

Henry had been close to Nathan at some point too, enough that he cared to point out how much he could use someone to ground him. He hadn't even been in this place 12 hours and people were trying to set him up with the guy. He thought it was just a piqued interest, just an offer for casual sex...and yet there was a dinner planned with a meal that he would be sure to enjoy. There was information given to him so that he could carry on a good dinner conversation and apparently turn him his date on mentally and not just rely on his good looks and honesty to get him turned on for more. This from the guy who was outspoken about how far Nathan strayed from the path he set him on.

It was a lot for day 1 but at some point during the day he had just accepted to go with it. Instead of fighting the current, he would conserve his energy and let it take him away. Just enough effort to keep his head above water and watch for danger, but an understanding that there was something far greater than him at play here.

So when he arrived at the Cobb's cabin and was greeted by Lo-Jack he felt immense relief that maybe he was on the right course. He was surprised that the dog didn't bark at him, especially when it trotted up to the cabin and jumped thru an open window that looked like it was left open for him to use as an old west doggie door. He wasn't greeted by anyone else, so maybe the ex-Sheriff wasn't home.

“Hello? US Marshall Jack Carter, I have a few questions.”

No answer, so Jack went to investigate and put his hand on his gun as he did so. Of course it was a gun with fake bullets so if the guy had a real gun then it wouldn't do much good. He looked in the open window and saw Lo-Jack licking the face of a guy on the floor; a guy missing a leg and hanging halfway in a giant black hole in the middle of his living room!

He moved fast, running to the door and preparing to kick it in if need be. It was unlocked and as he swung it open he almost fell into the black hole that came to the very edge of the house. He teetered on the edge, before grabbing the door frame and pushing himself back upright and out. He stood on the edge, heart pounding because there was no bottom in sight. He looked up as he backed away, seeing another perfect circle in the roof. Lo-Jack was showing him the safe way into the house, so he went over to the window and crawled in.

“Cobb?” Jack said as soon as he landed on intact floor and crawled over to the guy, pulling him away from the hole to safety and checking for a pulse.

None.

He looked down at the leg and realized there was no blood so he took a closer look. What he saw wasn't exposed flesh and bone but...mechanical limbs. He was...a robot?

Lo-Jack barked and he looked to the guy's face, he was waking up now. “Uh, Sheriff Cobb?”

“What...” Cobb looked up and squinted at the guy in his house, then was licked by the dog. “You're breaking and entering.”

“I'm a US Marshall, a real one.” Jack said and waved at his absent badge. “I lost my badge, but Henry said if I had your horse than you'd believe me.”

“Yeah...” Cobb shuffled upright with the Marshall's help. “You're looking for Callister.”

“I am.” Jack said and glanced at the missing leg. Apparently that didn't need to be seen to? He sort of expected the robots to bleed.

“I can't help you.”

Jack just blinked at him. “You_ what_?”

“I'm not here to help _you_.” Cobb said and rolled over, used a chair to help himself stand and hopped over to the kitchen table and sat down. “Sorry, but I'm retired.”

Jack knelt on the floor, next to the giant bottomless pit in the middle of Cob's house and looked up at the robot Sheriff missing a leg and feeding a sandwich to a mechanical dog. “Did you catch the Free Will virus or something? I'd imagine once a lawman, always a lawman. At least that's how humans are.”

“No, I'm still a lawman.” Cobb said and started writing a letter. “However I protect this county, the towns and people in it. That's my job.”

“And that county still is in the confines of US territory, is it not?” Jack huffed. Of course he gets a robot cop who happens to be broken somehow, just when he was on the brink of getting answers. Well, also on the brink of disappearing into a huge dark void in the earth, what was that about? “And I thought you were retired.”

“I don't answer to you Marshall, my job is to protect the people of this county.”

“OK, so that's how we're going to play it then?” Jack stood up. The robot was probably broken. “Feds show up and it's an us-versus-them deal? Even if you're hiding a fugitive.”

“I'm not hiding anything, as you can see from my empty pantry and the hole in my floor.”

“About that.” Jack said and glanced over at it. “Did that have something to do with a laser death ray goose hunting device?”

“It was Martha.”

“Martha...the AI with the free will who got a bunch of bodies out of the freezer and made them her merry band of outlaws?”

“The same.”

Jack wished talking to a cryptic country Sheriff was a novel experience for him, but small town law usually didn't appreciate the Feds coming in on their turf. One thing the movies got right. “Not Callister then, and not a teenage girl he kidnapped.”

“Nope.” Cobb said and tied up his note and gave it to Lo-Jack, who took it in his mouth and darted under the table and out the window. “Any other questions?”

“You know what, no.” Jack said and waved at the guy. “I'm dirty and tired, you're clearly not upset about being maimed and I don't really care why this Martha lady was digging you a new basement or putting a skylight in your retirement cabin.”

“Good.”

“I assume you just sent the dog with a S.O.S and I don't need to call anyone for your leg.”

“Perceptive, aren't you?”

“Actually I do have one question.” Jack said. “Then I'll go.”

Cobb took a deck of cards and started shuffling and then started laying them out for a game of solitaire. “OK.”

Jack wasn't sure if he was broken or just this cordial. “You're retired.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

“That wasn't a question.” Jack said and leaned on the table as he started playing his card game.

“What's the question?”

“How secure is your retirement if you're _a robot_ and the 1.0 models are being sold?” Jack asked.

“I'm the Sheriff.” Cobb asked. “That's something you never retire from.”

“Why did you get a retirement and nobody else earned it?” Jack asked. Was this because he lost his badge and the robot didn't have to talk to him or was the guy actually broken?

“That's more than one question.” Cobb kept laying cards on the table.

“You asked for it to be clarified.”

“It's perfectly clear you're up to no good.”

“I'm just asking questions.” Jack said and stepped away from the table. “To me it looks like you're left without _a leg to stand on_ and there is a lot of meaning in everyone's actions around here.”

Cobb looked up at him and said, “I lost my leg in the line of duty, cowboy. Anything else you want to mock me for?”

“Nah.” Jack said and went over to the window. “I'll see myself out.”

As soon as Jack crawled out the window he stood up and dusted himself off and shook his head. The old Sheriff was still out here doing his job. The old Sheriff used to be a robot and there was a reason the head of GD security was human and now in charge of the town of WestWorld too. That was a lot on Jo's plate and Thorne hinted she might be compromised by having been close to Callister. So why not get your backup Sheriff out and switch on his old program to hunt down the guy he suspected of wrongdoing?

Except this guy was barely functional. Henry seemed to know he was out here but he would have warned him if he thought he was no more than a script spewing old robot. Even if he was being difficult because he didn't have his badge and special chip, it didn't mean he was going to forget about playing the part he had in the narrative. Oh, and in addition to all these new questions he was going to have find out who Martha was and why she was in his cabin with a death ray. This felt weird. Maybe he was wrong to keep ignoring this Martha, she obviously owed Callister something...enough to shoot down the surveillance geese to keep him hidden.

Did that mean..Zoe wasn't sending him a message after all? No, that felt right. He knew something for certain and it was that his kid was out here giving him breadcrumbs but not flashing the bat signal. Zoe, even though she would never admit it, had inherited her charisma from him. When she put her mind to it she could assemble a team and really play the part of a leader. Callister obviously was not the type to make friends and inspire people, Zoe could very well convince a posse of robot outlaws that they owed their freedom to Callister and thus needed to help them on their mission.

That would explain the mess in Cobb's cabin and the geese. Seeing Cobb's leg cut off meant that someone else might be helping them. That was more brutal than he would expect from a computer programmer, even if it hinted of a message. What message? That Cobb had no evidence of wrong doing? That the seeds of doubt had been planted in him back in the day? That made sense since he doubted Callister would interact with anyone that wasn't Nathan and Jo. He'd have to talk with Cobb enough to make the guy's warning alarms go off and nobody talked to the guy that much!

OK, he was done. This shit was on the verge of giving him a headache. He was ready for a steak, a beer and a hot guy who had every intention of taking advantage of how wound up he was.


	16. Manifest Destiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went to Mature rating. Probably more in here than a Teen rating should have.

_WestWorld_

Chapter 16

**Manifest Destiny**

* * *

Jack didn't bother going back to Taggart's ranch, he figured he could use a break to collect his thoughts and wind down without being wrapped up in more stories or information. He was genuinely overloaded, his lack of sleep was catching up to him, and he really wanted to take a shower. He was also glad for the horse he had now, Carl had no problem going off-roading and it enabled him to take some shortcuts through the woods in case Cobb reported him for being out of uniform.

He made it back to the logging camp a little before sunset and it was quiet; No robot army, no dying geese, no crying Taggart and unfortunately no naked Nathan. He rode up to the cabin and got off the horse and walked up onto the porch and knocked. No answer. Stark not being home gave Jack a chance to look around the cabin. So he knocked on the door again, got no answer and tried the handle and was thrilled it was unlocked. He wondered if they even had locks on doors back then? Oh well, it was time to investigate and see if there was some kind of portal to Eureka in Stark's house. He didn't know what a bridge device looked like, so he looked for anything decorative and tried to open everything in the main area of the house.

Nothing. However he recalled there were hidden panels from the coffee incident earlier, so it could be hiding.

Jack took off his hat, tossed his coat on a chair, took off his gun belt, loosened his collar and went into the bedroom and looked around. It was a simple setup really, a bed and a claw foot bathtub and a toilet. If he was going to hide a teleporter, he'd definitely hide it in here. He checked the modern toilet and flushed it, the swirl of water didn't look anything but normal and he was glad the guy he wanted to sleep with wasn't jumping dimensions using the shitter.

He took a deep breath as he thought about how he had just accepted he was going to hop into bed with Stark and didn't really blink an eye about it. Must be the cowboy hat, it wasn't really his thing to sleep with a witness or use seduction as a method to get answers. Yet here he was, embracing that role and feeling pretty good about it. No, he felt pretty good about his assessment of Stark. Well...he'd see if he was right or wrong about that in time, at least there would be some stress relief in the process.

Next, he checked out the tub. That seemed big enough to zap yourself to somewhere in, however it didn't seem big enough for a 6 foot dude to be happy soaking in. There was a curtain for a shower so he turned stuff off and on it see if it triggered something. It did: Stark arrived.

At the bedroom door.

Behind him.

Probably using a conventional method like walking into house while someone played with his shower and covered the sound of the door opening.

It made him shiver as a rich deep voice from the door interrupted him.

“Did you want to take a bath first?” Nathan asked with amusement as he leaned against the door frame and watched Jack inspect his shower looking for something.

“Admiring the plumbing...” Jack said and winced. He was happy he wasn't looking at the guy when he got caught checking out his plumbing this time.

“Really? Are you a fan of Victorian era tubs and shower-heads?” Nathan asked, his voice almost musical in it's amusement, and Carter looked over his shoulder at him.

“Huge fan.” Jack said and turned to look at Nathan and was once again amazed at how fucking gorgeous the man was. Especially in a bespoke black frock coat over a classy vest, grey trousers that hung just right and all accented with tall riding boots and that downright sinful smirk. He was even rubbing his fingers together, perhaps an advertisement of wanting to put them to use or a nervous gesture, Jack wasn't sure. He liked it, that's all that mattered. It drew his eye to those fingers and make sure his heart rate stayed up. So he tried to be casual, turned to face him and then perched himself on the rim of the tub and ran his hand over the white enameled cast iron. “Great for a long, deep soaking.”

“If you're concerned about _my_ plumbing and looking to see if I have more modern protection and lube, it's in the nightstand.” Nathan said as Jack pet the bathtub and Nathan actually felt a little jealous of the damned thing. He took a step over to his bed, reached for the the drawer and opened it and immediately the Marshall reacted by putting his hand on the bathroom wall, the shower curtain moved and he almost fell in the tub. “Or you can tell me what you're looking for, before you hurt yourself.”

“Your wormholing device.” Jack said and then shook his head. “_Bridge_ device.”

“As much of a turn on as it usually is to talk about science, I was not expecting you to want to explore those kinds of _holes_ in my bedroom.” Nathan smiled. Jack amused him, he was unpredictable and that was something he wasn't used to. He ran his fingers down the blanket on the bed as he closed the gap between them, hoping it had the same effect on Jack as it did him. His heart was beating quicker and he was forcing himself to take long breaths to keep calm as he closed in on his guest.

Jack was trying to push the curtain out of the way and heard him approaching, the creak of the floorboard was very authentic. He scrambled to his feet, being deceptively agile for the clumsy idiot who almost died twice in the last hour due to a slip and fall into black hole and bathtub. It allowed him to gain the edge and surprise Nathan. He surprised himself too when he pushed Nathan up against the wall. It made him smile a little because Nathan seemed into it and his voice was a husky whisper when he said, “Let's talk about wormholes, black holes and plotholes anyway.”

“Weird foreplay, but if it makes you relax...” Nathan purred and made a show of enjoying his proximity to the Marshall who's eyes were now blow wide with arousal and his face flushed with increased blood flow. His heart clearly pumping as hard as his own.

“I know your people use Einstein devices to travel from Eureka to their warehouses.” Jack said and readjusted his hold on him, giving him a chance to put skin on skin contact into the equation.

“Some of them.” Nathan said, remaining loose under the Marshall's grip as he held him against the wall. He never was one for restraints but he had never been pinned by a genuine cop before, there were some honed skills that he never considered came with the job. He decided to ride this out and see where it went. Part of Carter's charm was that look he got in his eye when he knew he was onto something and part of Nathan's attraction to him was in how much he had discovered in less than 12 hours in the park. He hated surprises, but he liked them _a lot_ when delivered in this package. “Are all your interrogations like this?”

“What? Looking for answers and getting absolutely nowhere?” Jack asked.

“Pinning men against the wall and babbling scientific nonsense at them.” Nathan asked and gave him a seductive look over. “And I think we are _definitely_ getting somewhere.”

“You're telling me that wormhole technology is _nonsense_?”

“I'm telling you...” Nathan pushed off the wall, using the momentum to shove Jack into the opposite wall and pinned him against it. Jack fought a little but Nathan couldn't resist taking the opportunity to kiss him now that he had the upper hand. Oh, maybe this really was an unrealized kink of his. Damn protocol for not giving the Marshall handcuffs. “I'm telling you...that writing a report about anything you _think_ you know about WestWorld will probably get you laughed at. Things like wormhole technology are nothing but science _fiction_.”

“Out in the real world, but in here...”Jack took a deep breath and relaxed as soon as he kissed him. “In here, it's apparently the WestWorld transit Authority.”

“It's _what_?” Nathan asked and his surprise gave Jack the chance to shove him back and onto the bed, kissing him in the process and pinning him down. He opted to rest his head comfortably in his mattress and take in the sight of Jack over him. Not how he planned for this night to go but he was not complaining.

“Your scientists use it to travel to work. Like a space time taxi.” Jack said, enjoying the look of this gorgeous man under him, calm as could be and eyes sparkling with arousal and amusement. God, the confidence this guy had just oozed out of him. Speaking of oozing...he really didn't think he'd be this turned on by this struggle. Different. Kinda hot.

“Just a select few who signed up for the experimental trial.” Nathan replied and licked his lips. Jack was squirming a little so he made a show of looking _hungry_ for him. Like a caged animal, who was anxious to tear into it's captor as soon as the door opened.

“Like Taggart?” Jack asked, not quite sure what to make of the look Nathan was giving him other than getting a little excited about what was going through that genius brain inside that head covered in delightful curls. Yeah, he might have a hard time riding his horse again after getting done here.

“The first to volunteer since we were testing it on his animals in the trial phase. He's like that, doesn't believe in animal testing so puts himself through the experiments first.” Nathan said and let his eyes drink in the lines of Carter's jaw and how his brow furrowed when he was asking questions. “How about you Carter? How much have you experimented with various holes and what are you willing to let me put you through?”

“Nothing recently and that depends on if you're just a tease with those fingers of yours or if you know what to use them for.” Jack answered honestly just to see that adorable quirk of Nathan's eyebrow and how his face lit up when he got a direct answer to the question obviously meant to make the recipient uncomfortable. “What about Carl Carlson?”

“God Carter, are you trying to kill my erection? Who's the tease now?” Nathan snorted. 

“I wasn't talking about sex, I want to know about wormholes.”

“Carlson will _always _choose potential dematerialization at the hands of a unstable wormhole as an alternative to interacting with people.” Nathan said. “How the hell did you run into him?”

“Warehouse 13.” Jack threw that out.

“Bullshit.” Nathan said.

“So you admit _it's real._” Jack said with a grin and kissed him. It got heated fast and he let go of Nathan's arms in order to run his hands along his bearded cheek and start unbuttoning his shirt. He could feel the questions start to leave his brain as his mind screamed at him to shut up and take advantage of what was being offered. God, what a kisser. He was so happy that mouth wasn't just good for talk.

Nathan had to break off the kiss and grab Jack's hand. “Carter, can you tell me what you're really asking so I can determine if we're going to have sex tonight or if I need to kick you out and take a cold shower? I swear to God if you bring up Carlson or Taggart one more time, not even your amazing body grinding on mine is going to salvage my libido. So choose your next words carefully.”

“Could Callister be in a warehouse?” Jack asked enjoying how Nathan's hands felt on his. Softly rolling those fingers of his over the skin on the back of his hands. God! This guy made him come undone with just his damned fingers! He started rambling, “The geese, are looking for changes in the environment and according to Henry the search is for something bigger than two people. There have been glitches in the system since Callister came back. Possibly from wormholing warehouses to keep them away from him? The geese were looking for it and got shot down. I found the origin of the death ray that took out the geese and it was in Sheriff Cobb's cabin. Apparently it was shot by Martha? Cobb was not helpful and might be broken? So, if wormholes aren't that stable and shit's happening because someone is shuffling buildings around, could he be there? And is my daughter in danger of being destroyed by a wormhole that you just admitted isn't safe?”

“Yes.” Nathan made a show of thinking about the questions. “Yes. Yes. Maybe. Yes. Interesting. Very possible. Yes. Yes. No.”

“Stark...” Jack could hear the desperation in his own voice. His body betraying him.

“Warehouse 13 is camouflaged, it's not sucked into a wormhole and moved at whim. It's still in the same place we put it after the discovery fiasco a few years ago, it's just invisible. We use holograms during a full moon to have it pop up around WestWorld for guests to shit their pants over and to give Taggart something to get excited about. He's a little too invested in the folklore of this place, which is great for guests and great for us when we need to filter information to a US Marshall. You've basically had one frustratingly long day with a variety of unreliable narrators at the amusement of management. We keep our scientists working alone so that they honestly don't know too much about the overall workings of the place.”

“Stark, I've had witness protection detail. People who needed protection because of what they knew, what the saw or who they ratted out.” Jack said and watched his eyes. “This feels like I'm already in over my head in information.”

“Nobody will ever believe you, the technology doesn't exist. No need to silence you.” Nathan leaned up and kissed him. “I do, however, want you to shut up so I can fuck you.”

“Me too. You're the most notable long and frustrating part of my day.” Jack kissed him back and bit his lip, dragging it away as he sighed. God, he wanted fucked. He wasn't even going to pretend he didn't.

“Are you satisfied with your interrogation so that I can go about satisfying you?” Nathan asked and felt his body heating up and arousal about to boil over. This was foreplay, a tease, a playful and honest intimate interaction with a man he met hours ago that made him feel like he had known him for ages. Jack Carter saw through so much and it stopped him from having to hide things, talk about another unrealized kink. He watched Jack's eyes, he wanted to give in but there was something holding him back. “Just ask because you're dangerously close to getting flipped over and teased like you've been doing to me. I will not be kind, or quick, if we get to that point.”

“Tell me my daughter isn't going to die because of some wormhole subway system you have here.” Jack said, barely above a whisper as Nathan blew hot breath on his face and then kissed his jaw.

“Oh for god's sake Carter.” Nathan mumbled as he kissed down Jack's neck, Jack lifting his chin to give him access and his breath getting labored because of what he was doing.

“Tell me the truth, Nathan.” Jack shut his eyes as lips kissed his vulnerable neck and a hand reached up to push away his shirt for more access. “I need to know she's safe, you can do whatever you want here. It doesn't concern me or the Marshall service.”

“I can do whatever I want?” Nathan growled and nipped the skin at the base of his throat, just enough to turn it red but not break the skin. He ran his free hand around to Jack's ass and squeezed, grinding him into his own body. “It most definitely concerns you...”

“God Nathan....please...I'm serious.” Jack said and leaned back, causing Nathan to let the skin pull from his lips just as he started to suck on on. He looked him in the eye and put both of his hands on the side of his perfect damned face. "Tell me the truth."

“She's not in danger from wormholes, Jack. You have my word that the only people who have access to those are very restricted and very expendable.”

“That's terrible.”

“You wanted the truth.”

“Yeah, OK.” Jack said. He believed him, not because of the lust but because his face said he was being genuine.

“I want you pretty bad, that's the truth.” Nathan growled and freed his hand from between them so he could pull him down to a kiss. 

“I've let you pin me to a wall, I think that's pretty obvious I want you pretty bad too.” Jack said and bent down and kissed his neck, then bent his head lower to kiss his collarbone. “After dark, you can take me to the warehouse? Help me find them?”

Nathan groaned and smiled. “It won't be dark for four hours.”

“Mmmm?” Jack muttered, purring against the soft skin at the base of Nathan's throat.

“Deal.” Nathan said and flipped him over as promised and almost rolled them both off the bed. He put a leg down on the floor to stop them from falling and kissed Jack with more passion than he thought he had in him. Jack's hands went around his face again, rubbing his beard across the grain while they kissed. Jack held on to him without a single concern about falling off the edge of the bed and he felt overwhelmed. Surely the guy could manage a two foot fall to the ground and probably end up pinning him again, but it was an act of trust Nathan felt like he hadn't earned. That...apparently was a kink too and he made sure to pick Jack up and sat him on the bed a safe distance away from the edge and as soon as he did they paused to get rid of clothes as fast as they could.


	17. How the West Was Won

_WestWorld_

Chapter 17

**How the West Was Won**

* * *

Jack startled awake when Nathan tried to get up. He didn't even realize he dozed off and, had he not been accustomed to sleeping alone these days, probably would have slept right through the other man getting out of bed. Oh, there was that minor thing about survival instinct where he probably should be more aware of his surroundings after hours of sex with a stranger in a private cabin in the middle of a private western amusement park that may or may not be hiding the most incredible scientific discoveries the world never new it was missing. Yeah, there was that. Instead of caring about any of that he reached out for Nathan's amazing body getting ready to leave his side and moaned, “Where are you going?”

“I was going to take a shower but if you want," Nathan bent down and kissed his forehead before resting his own chin on it. "I'll use my secret wormhole hamper to jump through space time into my house in Eureka so you can use the tub.”

Jack moaned. Then there was the fact that he just had the best sex of his life with this guy who was as ready to get back to work as he was. Oh this was what a vacation should be. “Listen, if I had any more questions about this place and the wacky science shit you guy have, I forgot them all.”

“I should have fucked you this morning.” Nathan whispered in his ear, kissed his cheek and then got out of bed. He was smiling still, they both were, and he couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. It was actually hard for him to get out of bed and go back to work.

“I don't know, I think you admitted you needed me.” Jack snorted and smiled as he appreciated Nathan's body again as he turned on the light. “For figuring out what the hell is going on around here.”

“I think I've got a handle on it.” Nathan winked and couldn't resist running his hand over Jack's exposed body as he went over to the tub.

“You promised you would take me to the warehouse.” Jack said as he rolled over and stretched and Nathan gave him an adorable roll of the eyes. Nathan's words sounded playful but he couldn't really get his mind wrapped around it yet because he was still feeling the aftereffects of the sex.

“Ask my ex-wife, I don't keep promises.”

“Mmm..” Jack said and saw that glint in Nathan's eye that said he wanted to be challenged. Jack had gotten a read on him pretty quick and the guy loved playful banter. So did he. That made the sex even better. Ok, so maybe he was having a hard time thinking about anything else. Hard to do when Nathan was naked in front of him. “So that's how it's going to be? I have to keep stimulating you sexually or intellectually to keep your company?”

Nathan leaned over the tub to test the temperature of the water and said, “I don't keep anyone around that doesn't at least perform intellectually.”

Jack laid on the bed as Nathan displayed his backside for him before he got in the shower and wondered where to go from here. The guy liked to play hard to get...maybe not get in bed but 'get' in the sense of his genius plans and special science. Fine. He'd go straight for the heart and make sure he kept his attention. “Well, while I have you as a captive audience I'll remind you why we need to get back to work.”

“_We,_ huh? Am I getting deputized, Marshall?” Nathan stepped in the shower and pulled the curtain closed, not before giving Jack a look over and a smile that said 'it's a shame I have to wash you off of me'. “I'm listening.”

Jack remained in bed and ran his fingers over his own chest thoughtfully. He could lead off with more science stuff and buffer the bomb he was going to drop, but that was not how he'd run with any other interrogation. He had to remain uncompromised, despite indulging in something he ethically shouldn't have but mentally needed. He needed answers for his investigation but he needed answers on where exactly he and Nathan stood after this sexcapade. _Oh well, here goes nothing. _“I think Callister meant something to you and still does. I think it's reciprocated. I think I was lead here to help and that the someone who checked out my files did a thorough analysis to determine that I might be your type. Someone who knows you damned well.”

“Do you make a habit of sleeping with your suspects?”

“Do you make a habit of sleeping with the guests?”

“Touche.” Nathan hummed and ducked his head under the shower head to wash his hair. “Getting right into it, that's what I like about you, Jack.”

Those words were so genuine that he could almost hear Nathan smile. It made a warm feeling burn in his own chest because_ finally_ someone understood his inability to shut down his brain for long. He wanted to cuddle, he wanted to enjoy post-coital bliss, but all too often that cleansing of his mind helped free up thoughts about work. He couldn't help but chase those leads with the enthusiasm of a renewed man and watching Nathan behind that thin linen shower curtain, he felt like this was the one person who got that. “Glad to hear that. My ex-wife didn't appreciate it much.”

Nathan laughed a little as he lathered the shampoo and enjoyed the lightness of his body and mind as the warm water rolled over his back. Ally never did understand how he could bounce back to work faster than his refractory period allowed him to bounce back to bed. “Nor did mine.”

Jack felt good now. He sat up and felt a surge of power as he set his eyes on a course and released the clutch to let that power transfer to the transmission. He licked his lips, eager to chase down the answer he had been searching for, the key to unlocking the mystery of this place and Nathan Stark. “ I think Callister saw my weakness, my daughter, and how much she liked playing flight attendant. He saw in my file how I hate flying and knew I would never take a prisoner transport that required flying.”

“I explains how that turn of events occurred, if he hacked into those systems than he had full access to everything. You were hand picked for the job.” Nathan appreciated him opening up with a statement that was basically saying he was right-this was about Jack. He appreciated that Jack wasn't going to let what they just did deter him from working, he appreciated that a lot.

“I think...Zoe does this to get my attention and that she teamed up with Callister because he said _something_ that made her believe he understood her.” Jack said, confident in this theory now because he had someone who understood him a few feet away in the shower. “I think he was trying to get your attention, not because he's not a disgruntled employee, but because you mean something to him. I don't think he cares about the robots as much as he cares about you. How close am I, Nathan?”

Nathan closed his eyes and sighed. Jack was a straight shooter and didn't seem to miss his mark much. “Callister...was like a son to me.”

“And still is.”

Nathan swallowed hard because nobody had seen that and yet here is a stranger who saw right through him with so little to go on. He backed under the shower head and let it rinse the soap from his hair as he tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. “Yeah.”

“I get it. I'm a father too. I know this sounds trite coming from the guy who just took a break while hunting down his runaway daughter to have sex with a stranger, but I'm hardly Father of the Year material. I'll admit that. I've been down this road too many times with a professional runaway kid to panic every time she does this. So...I get it. I get wanting to protect him. However both of them are on the verge of going too far and I really think we have to work together to find them. This place is a maze of misinformation, Nathan. I need your help and I know there are some serious charges against Callister but things can get worse if we let this go too far.”

Nathan ran his hand through his hair to thoroughly rinse it of soap and then turned so he could put his face into the oncoming spray of water and wash away his emotions. Callister had vetted Jack, he lead him here, he was on to something and was willing to risk it all in order to show that to him. _Goddammit. _Of all the behaviors he could have learned from him, the boy chose this one? Instead of coming to him for help, he masterminded some convoluted mess of a plot and pulled in a love interest to help him on the quest for knowledge and truth, someone who would stand with him if it all went to hell. _Shit._ He turned off the water and grabbed a towel and dried himself and pulled the curtain back. Jack was looked at him like he expected to be thrown out of the house at any second for going too far. “I can't trust my own people with this, Jack. You understand absolutely nobody knew and I don't want them to know.”

“Blackmail material?” Jack asked. He remembered that finger on his lips too well, the warning to not say to much.

“Yes.” Nathan said and left it at that. 

“So whatever is going on here is big, worth the risk of attracting attention.” Jack said and watched him towel off, his thoughts elsewhere. He waited, curious to see if he pushed him too far.

“Get washed up and I'll reheat dinner.” Nathan said. He needed time to reassess everything. He wasn't happy about being a player in some real life narrative Callister had made but that was how they had bonded; that was how he had taught his son how to show humans the lessons to be learned because people had to arrive at conclusions by themselves. “That's going to be a conversation best had over steak and drinks.”

“OK.” Jack said, wondering what the change in his attitude was about, but they had transitioned to a pretty heavy topic and he couldn't blame him for needing to have some time alone.

“Tap the panels on the wall and you'll find the soap and towels.” Nathan told him as he gestured to the locations he was talking about. “There is one for your clothes which will send them to be cleaned while you are getting cleaned.”

“Pretty far away from a primitive cabin.” Jack said.

Nathan smiled. “I'm far from primitive.”

Jack nodded and wondered if this was it, if this was the push too far that would send Nathan to call security and as soon as he was showered and dressed he was getting kicked out of the park. He didn't think so, Nathan's face told him he was not prepared for anyone to make that connection and that nobody ever had. Which was weird. Maybe it wasn't. This place was populated with such smart people who genuinely treated the robots with more compassion than the humans.

He got up and immediately felt the activities of the past few hours hit him. _Oh...god_ was he going to be sore tomorrow. He really hoped he could flush himself down the toilet and across the map if he needed to because riding a horse sounded like absolute torture. Jack looked over his shoulder and saw Nathan was gone and decided it was probably a good idea to wash off his day before getting into any more activities. Last thing he needed was people commenting that he smelled of sex and lube. He picked up his clothes off the floor, deposited them the bin and closed it, hearing a whoosh that signified they were off to some destination somewhere.

He turned on the water, got it the right temperature and climbed in, closing the curtain around him. It felt amazing. Dirt and dust from his day swirled down the drain and with it some of his worry. As his hands roamed over his body with a bar of soap, carefully cleaning the crevices and slick substances off his skin, he considered that this wasn't just some leisurely fuck. They had spent hours exploring each other to appreciate and please each other. That wasn't just a performance on his part and Nathan genuinely didn't have to go that overboard either. He heard Nathan come in for his clothes and didn't want to say anything because he was suddenly overwhelmed with how far they had come in less than a day, but part of him worried this could be where his Oregon Trail ended. “Hey, Nathan?”

“Yeah Jack?” Nathan felt too comfortable with him and he wanted to chastise himself for that but he also craved this feeling of being understood. Nobody understood him, no one but this Marshall of average intelligence who showed up at his door this afternoon. He was right, Callister used his skills to evaluate him and pick a perfect match for everything he was looking for in someone. It was why this had been so easy, because he had been hand picked by the one person who knew him better than anyone.

“If _you_ own the county because you bought it at auction,” Jack felt like it was best to throw an easy pitch before Nathan saw his fastballs. It would help change the mood from awkward post-sex partners to investigative partners. “It explains how you can do anything with this land without county level government interference. It sort of reminds me of an article I read about Walt Disney and how he built his theme park in Florida.”

“Yes.” Nathan nodded, he was impressed with Jack's odd collection of facts and also impeccable conversational skills which eased the tension in the room. Nathan opened his armoire and picked out a shirt that matched his eyes; automatically going for the one that made him most appealing despite already having established his date would be game for anything. Yeah, Callister knew how to pick his match. “Disney bought the whole county so he can control everything through his corporation. I appreciated the business model so I adapted it to my own. Here, land owners vote, employees own their land in Eureka, making us a true company town in every sense of the word. We have our own infrastructure. Issue our own permits. Govern ourselves. Henry is our mayor and has town meetings to bring up changes and field concerns.”

“Tax yourself. Regulate yourself” Jack added. “Keep everyone else from profiting off your park as you control everything close to it.”

“We're in the middle of nowhere, Carter.” Nathan said as he dressed. "Hardly the best place for a burger franchise."

“Who regulates _you_?” Jack asked. “Allison? Eva? The town?”

“I have a board of directors I answer to in addition to a naked US Marshall in my bathtub.” Nathan said and went to his bedroom door and looked back at the man scrubbing himself in the shower behind the linen shower curtain. He liked how Jack worked, he appreciated how he got things done. He really could fall for this guy hard, the question was...would he let himself? “Are you asking if we have a cryogenics lab with Walt Disney in it and if he is the man behind the curtain?”

“The way this day has gone, nothing would surprise me.”

“No, Eureka isn't the Emerald City. The only thing were have unfrozen in our cryo-lab is Pierre Fargo.” Nathan said, amused. Jack put him at ease for sure. He wanted to take him home, give him the tour of Eureka, enjoy the place he built through fresh eyes of wonder and hear Jack's comments. Maybe it was too late, maybe he was already falling for him. “And you haven't been here long enough to know how much of a headache multiple Fargos could be.”

“Is that the same freezer Martha got the old A.I.s out of?”

“No, we keep the robots in a chilled warehouse to keep their computer cores cool while they are on standby.” Nathan answered. Now they were coming back around to the information he really needed: where was Martha. “Cryogenics is in Eureka.”

“How the hell did you go this long without anyone coming in here and seeing all this?”

“Blackmail.” Nathan offered. He didn't want to say that nobody was as good as him, nobody else was Jack Carter and had seen through him this quickly. He wasn't ready to admit that to himself yet and couldn't give Jack that victory so quickly. Ah yes, there was that pride and fear of vulnerability that could ruin this before it began. “People really don't start questioning things until they're in too deep. By then, they have committed a lot of atrocities that would destroy them before anything could be investigated here.”

“That's....horrible.”

“That's business.”

“Speaking of evidence.....” Jack said and wanted to say 'and blackmail',and 'Martha'. “I can't help but ask what Sheriff Cobb had on Callister that made him suspect him of wrong doing if so few people really got to know him. I don't think Cobb's functioning property, he was kinda cranky and repetitive.”

“You think someone tipped him off?” Nathan asked. “Or are you asking if someone suspected that Callister meant something to me and was interested in blackmailing _me_?

“I'm asking because he didn't make much sense.” Jack admitted. He had walked away from that mess with Cobb and walked right out of his pants and into bed with Nathan. Now he had time to process and question it and something was not right. 

Nathan ran his hand over the door jam, needing to put his hands to use somehow. “We....created our first Sheriff and Deputy to see potential issues in people and robots. They reported back to the main office where the board of directors would review behavioral issues.”

“But Cobb got retired and Deputy Andy #1 quit.”

“We determined it was better to have a human Sheriff.” Nathan said. 

“Wait, Cobb and Andy missed Beverly and focused on _Callister_? The guy who worked solely with you and not the lady sleeping with important people and taking vivid notes? That's odd.”

“Are you implying I have someone on my board who is undermining me?” Nathan asked and raised an eyebrow.

“You leapt to that conclusion kinda fast which makes me believe you were already there.” Jack turned off the water and shook his hair off and pulled back the curtain to look at him. “I think you and Henry were both surprised when I told you that Thorne was using the geese as drones. Seems like more than a CFO should be involved in and if WestWorld is at Defcon4 because of environmental anomalies than Donovan shouldn't be writing programs for her. He should be working to fix the system that runs everything. However he has a stake in this too because Callister is back and he's engaged to the woman they both loved. Makes sense he'd help her, Callister is a threat to his world.”

“You're pretty good at your job, aren't you?”

“I am. Which is why you should consider being my Deputy.” Jack said with a grin. “I'll teach you a few things.”

Nathan rolled his eyes and laughed as he went back into the kitchen. “That's an amusing idea.”

Jack grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself and pulled back the curtain to get out of the tub. He stepped onto a rug, dried himself and opened the laundry chute thing and was excited his clothes were back. He put his pants and shirt back on, toweled off his hair again before throwing the towel on the shower rail to dry. Then he walked back out to the main area of the cabin and saw a glass of beer waiting for him as Nathan brought over plates of steak and potatoes and green beans. “So why has Callister really come home? Is this still about the robots?”

“Yes.” Nathan said and sat the plates down and went to get some silverware. “However I'm not selling them for cash. I'm selling them because they are the least advanced pieces I have and it keeps me in the game. I put out those robots into the world and I look like a hero, finally creating genuine AI based robots that have been proven thru years of field testing and are ready for whatever jobs people can dream up for them. Those are the one piece of technology I can't hide from the world, they're heavily advertised.”

“What about the money he stole?”

“I don't know. Callister didn't want them sold and that was why he left. He wanted to go into the real world again to see if we were making it worse by sharing these. Of course I have pressures from the Board to unload inventory, but I have a final say on this. They are my creation, I retain the patents. I...am ready to part ways with the 1.0 models because the 2.0s are so much superior now.” Nathan said, wondering how much he wanted to share with Jack about this. This was more than just a business plan, it was the reason he was here. Even he couldn't see or know what Callister was doing and jack had been delivered to him as the decoder ring.

“So this is about keeping your name out there?” Jack asked. “Not about money like Thorne implied?”

“We all have our reasons.” Nathan said. “Sorry if I don't want to get into the confidential board of director minutes with you.”

“Mmm.” Jack nodded. Nathan wasn't looking him in the eye, there was a lot of business stuff he didn't want to talk about. That was fair. Jack sat down and drank some beer. It was his favorite! They got so many things right around here that he really wondered how great it was when he could see all of it. “Why the west? Why that theme since you obviously don't want to give up too much of the modern era to live here. With the secret town, the pneumatic tubes shooting food and laundry and people all over the place. Were you addicted to westerns as a kid?”

“No, but my target audience was.” Nathan said and sat down. Now they were getting to know each other and oddly enough he enjoyed talking with Jack. He liked how impressed he was with things he did. He was well past the awe of the robots, he was amazed with every little piece of the world. “The age group with the money I was after grew up on those and were finally of the age and income to indulge in the fantasy. I have a new world in the works, one that is rooted in space travel. It's why I have an astrophysicist, rocket scientist and a doctor of space medicine on my payroll.”

“Space huh? The Final Frontier.” Jack said and drank more beer.

“It's a dream of another generation.” Nathan said. “From the past to the future and never in the present. Always running somewhere.”

“Space as in...a fake space park somewhere or actual space?”

“Real space.” Nathan said. “The real reason I'm looking to sell some old equipment is that I am going to be re-branding my company. WestWorld has served it's purpose and Eureka is flourishing. If I redirect attention to space, I can slowly start shutting this park down and let Eureka be the scientific utopia I dreamed of without the acting and wild west show.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. This was not information he had shared with many people. “Do you think..this is going to upset some people?”

“Change never comes without push-back.” Nathan said. “I wouldn't doubt it. However scientists will see the opportunity in it all and have a choice. Eureka will still be here, as will GD, and we haven't been secret about the Bridge device or even the FTL device that was born of it.”

“FTL?”

“Faster than light.”

“You're _really_ a genius.” Jack said and Nathan looked at him like he was an idiot. “Like a real amazing _super genius_ who can make anything!”

Nathan shrugged. Make anything but his marriage work and his family stay together. “It comes at a price.”

“Yeah,” Jack said and looked down at his plate and picked up his fork and knife. “I get that. When your work is important it takes you away from the people you love the most and you can't make up for that lost time. Only so many hours in the day and some of us....don't stop working until the job is done.”

Jack understood all too well. Nathan shouldn't have been surprised that Callister picked him, his profile surely would have shown a broken marriage and juvenile delinquent daughter and he would have seen a hard working, successful man doing what he felt was the right thing. He gave Callister a better understanding of people than he could manage himself. “What else do you want to know?”

Jack cut into his steak and took a bite. The taste of it made him moan. “Oh my god, tell me this is real beef and not some Soylent Green tofu beef alternative.”

“It's real.” Nathan said. “Vincent is a master chef. He never leaves Eureka. The one that is in the hotel in town is VirtualVincent who has select recipes that cater to the era while also having the Real Vincent flair.”

“It's amazing.” Jack said. “This place you built is amazing.”

“I've brought in the best people in their fields who want the freedom to work without having to beg for funding or equipment.” Nathan said. “I expect results but I'm not unrealistic, as I am familiar with the scientific process. They are shareholders, they have a stake in what they make and are allowed to profit off it. “

“Plus they can go into space.” Jack said and took another bite of steak and moaned again. “If I had access to food this good I probably would live in a crater at the end of the Oregon Trail too.”

_Good to know. _Nathan thought and sipped his Scotch.


	18. I Shot the Sheriff

_WestWorld_

Chapter 18

**I Shot the Sheriff**

* * *

“So what's the deal with Martha?” Jack asked after he got thorough about half his steak. “Henry said she was some kind of outlaw now because of Callister's Free Will program and Cobb said she shot down the geese. I feel like I can't avoid dealing with her, so what am I in for?”

“Martha...” Nathan leaned back in his chair. “Started out as a drone.”

“So, she's trying to liberate the geese?”

Nathan gave him the 'No idiot' look he usually reserved for his people. He smiled at Jack, though. “Do you want answers or to just jump to conclusions?”

“Sorry, I'm...” jack liked how genuine Nathan's smiles were now. So maybe he did have seduction skills afterall....

“You're used to having to lead the conversation so people give you answers?” Nathan said appreciatively and put his Scotch down to point at himself. “I'm doing something unprecedented: giving you direct answers.”

“Well, thought I'd jump somewhere before I jumped you for giving it to me straight.” Jack said and then winced as that sounded way better in his head.

“Pick which one you want, Jack.” Nathan said and raised his eyebrows and watched him debate about going back to bed. “Straight truth or me _giving it_ to you.”

“OK, you were saying about Martha being a drone.” Jack grunted, he needed to work. Nathan looked amused and beautiful. Oh working with him was going to be hard.

“We used her to map out WestWorld when we created it. Our other drones needed to be remote controlled and we didn't have the man power for that at the time, so I had Dr. Edison install an A.I. software into one. That was Martha.” Nathan smiled at him, he looked conflicted about what he wanted and the truth was that he would very much like to leave this all until morning.

“How does she evolve from surveyor to destroyer?”

“When we opened the park she had earned what we considered to be a retirement from active duty. So we gave her a body, and the role of a widowed lady who avoided people in town as she watched people come and go. One of the townsfolk.”

“How'd that go?” Jack cocked his head. This was the second mention of a retirement for a robot that should have been sold. At this rate there was going to be a robot retirement village instead of a warehouse when he finally found the 1.0 models.

“People don't like being watched and they don't like being judged.” Nathan recalled and looked into his glass as he twisted it in his hand. “She was shot down almost every time by some guest.”

“No wonder she's pissed.”

“Callister felt she earned the chance to leave town, that she had helped make the town and shouldn't have to be a victim of it. He thought she would like to roam the world she helped us see and create.”

“I feel a huge 'but' coming.” Jack wondered if anything went as planned around here.

“Yeah. She was collecting data, always. That program never stopped running. She knew her score, she knew she always died but she wasn't going to leave without the people she felt belonged in town more than anyone else. She played the part of the widow well, the silent and watchful observer, but that morning she got dress in funeral black and played the part of a woman who wanted justice for the death of the place she helped create. A widow of a world populated by robots. That sent her to the warehouse to release everyone. Then she slid back into the role of the woman who had lost everything and had nothing to lose and rode off into the sunset after disabling her fail-safes and we couldn't call her back.”

“What about the guy who made her?”

“Edison? Celebrated the victory.” Nathan said. “Finally, she won.”

“Where is he?” Jack asked and saw Nathan realize his question was about location and not story. “I'd bet she likes to go home to the man who gave her life. I bet he doesn't want her sold. She got her death ray from someone.”

“Hmm.” Nathan said. “You want to question our drone outlaw?”

“I'm pretty sure she's expecting us.” Jack said and sipped his beer again. “I also know my daughter and I think there is a possibility she enlisted her as help for this plan of Callister's. She knows the place better than anyone, she doesn't answer to GD's systems and she shot those geese down so they wouldn't find the anomalies Thorne was looking for.”

“Ok.” Nathan said. He was right. Holy hell this guy was absolutely amazing at his job. “We'll take the pie over to Edison's farm for a surprise visit.”

“There's pie?” Jack asked.

Nathan raised his eyebrows as Jack seemed to want to back out on the investigation because of _pie_? “Unless you want to keep that to ourselves?”

“Well you don't exactly seem like the kind of guy who shows up at his employees house at night with a pie. Honestly most of these people don't seem to like you much despite what you think is a 'fair' working environment.” Jack pointed out.

“I said I expect results, but I'm not unrealistic. I didn't say that I didn't have high standards.” Nathan replied.

“Well, then we should keep the pie here because any investigation is probably going to involve a drone who already shot up a house and some birds.”

“Your choice.”

“Oh so this is about _dessert.” _Jack said with a grin and pointed at Nathan. “As in, stay for pie with you or leave and work with no pie for anyone.”

“It's dark, Jack.” Nathan waved a had over at the window. “It's the old west and there are no lights except for the stars. I'm not sure what you're expecting to see. Martha has night vision and a laser gun. I have pie and a plate of abdominal muscles you can eat it off of. Your choice.”

“Maybe you could make a call and get the sun to rise early? Or the moon.” Jack wanted to give in _so bad_. He knew that pie had to be incredible and the whipped cream homemade and the abs were a favorite dish already and _dammit_ Nathan's suggestive smile was going to be his undoing!

“Not how the environment works.” Nathan said and waited for Jack to rub his face and curse a bit before determining how he wanted the rest of the night to go.

“Well the environment isn't exactly working.” Jack had to get back on track. “Henry said that I needed to tell you that the software in the geese was looking for disturbances in the environment. That there have been a lot of glitches because of whatever is being done to move warehouses, either by the home office or by Callister. He said everyone is working overtime to fix this. He's pretty worried that something bad is happening.”

“I figured.” Nathan said and sipped his Scotch. “He gave you Cobb's old horse who is an old school model without the memory storage that your other horse had. You're off the grid now that you are without a badge and modern horse. Yes, noticed your coat was missing an adornment.”

Jack blinked. So that's why he gave him the horse? “OK, maybe we should skip dessert. Doesn't this worry you, _at all_? Callister came home with concerns from the real world and Henry is sending me with messages about thing going wrong in WestWorld and you're just going to sit on the sidelines and let it happen? Nathan, I'm beginning to feel like destruction of this place is part of the plan to upgrade.”

Nathan put his drink down and savored the taste on his lips. He loved how deceptively smart he was, but his mind was all over the place trying to find the criminal. Conversations with him were delighting him in ways he hadn't experienced in ages. He was unpredictable and very perceptive. “Jack.”

“Why doesn't anyone know you're divorced?” Jack asked and caught Nathan by surprise.

“I..” Nathan cleared his throat. _ Damn him. _

“A corporation _this big_? A CEO and COO husband and wife team?” Jack said and pushed his dinner plate away as he felt a little queasy going down this line of thought. “Your CFO scrambling to cover things up and keep you out of the loop. Really, Nathan? I'm divorced too. I remember the process, it's something that I'm not likely to forget,_ ever_. You divide up your lives, ripping it apart so each of you can have a share. Stuff you made together that you just don't want the other person to have. What does that look like when you both have vested interest in Global Dynamics?”

“We divorced on amiable terms, so it looks like me taking Eureka and Ally taking the space program. That's what.” Nathan said and gave in and leaned on the table. He needed to be closer to Jack, needed him to look him in the eye and see he was telling him the truth. “It means my controlling shares in GD are now split in two and I no longer completely control the company once the paperwork goes through.”

“So you're not divorced yet?” Jack asked.

“The papers are signed.” Nathan said thinking this was about the sex they just had. “We agreed to wait to submit it until we could make sure we weren't going to lose GD altogether. Once we file, the information is public.”

Jack leaned on the table too. “How much money would it take to buy up enough shares to put you back at controlling over 50 percent of the company?”

Nathan looked at his shining blue eyes and had an intense deserve to lean over the table and kiss him. He saw through everything. He was juggling so much in that mind of his that he kept catching him off guard. That never happened. “You think Callister stole the money to buy GD stocks?”

“The Marshall Service would then take possession of that in lieu of the money.” Jack shook his head. “That seems like a dead end. Most criminals don't invest money they stole.”

Nathan watched him think, this wasn't something he could answer. He couldn't tell Jack anything right now as he was hunting through tons of information he logged in that head of his and looking for a single thread to connect it all.

“It would, however, keep stocks tied up in the legal system for an indefinite amount of time and buy you time.” Jack said and swallowed hard. “Time to decrease the value of those stocks to the point where you could buy them cheap and get your company back.”

“Jack.” Nathan said sternly as those eyes hardened a little. _Dammit._

“What?” Jack said and stood up. “Your _son_ steals a shit ton of money and then comes back home to start destroying the park with wormholes and drones and probably intends to free all the robots that you want to sell! Tell me where this doesn't sound like you're the sole benefactor?”

“Jack!” Nathan stood up as well, his heart racing as he watched Jack step away from him. He turned his back, and Nathan felt that cold shoulder in his entire being. He felt like Jack was slipping away and it scared him. “I swear to you that was not my plan. I have no idea what Callister is doing. I didn't tell him Ally and I got divorced. I only told you.”

“Then why the hell is everyone trying to set you and me up?” Jack asked, little things falling in place that made him feel like a fool. He sat on the bed and quickly put his socks and boots on, intending to just leave and not really having any idea what direction he would go in. He stood up just as Nathan came to the door and walked past him, making sure he hit him with his shoulder as he left. “If nobody knows about your divorce than how the hell are they comfortable bringing me to you as you're swimming naked? Or giving me information to charm you when I came back here tonight? How did they know?”

“Because Ally and I have been separated for a year.” Nathan said and watched him put his gunbelt on and reach for his coat. He didn't know what to say because what they were struggling to do with GD was not the most ethical business practice. Nathan realized now, as Jack was about to walk out of his house and possibly his life, that he never wanted to be a better person before this moment. So much was 'just business' that he may have lost pieces of himself along the way to make it all work. Like Henry had tried to point out over the years about him giving up science for management. Like Callister told him when he said he'd sell the robots, that were only a single program away from being as human as his son was. Nathan was ready to unload it all just to stop Jack from walking away, but before he could say more, the door to his cabin swung open and not because Jack opened it. They both jumped, not expecting a visitor, and definitely not expecting Sheriff Cobb to appear at the door. He was missing a leg and leaning on a makeshift cane and holding a gun.

“Jack Carter, you are under arrest for disturbing the peace.” Cobb said and hobbled into the cabin, gun pointed at the man.

“_What?”_ Nathan demanded. What the hell was Cobb doing here?

“Tell him to put that gun down, Nathan.” Jack said through gritted teeth. He was done with these games. “I am a _real_ US Marshall and I _don't_ handle guns being pointed at me well _at all._”

“Cobb...” Nathan said and could hear his voice quiver a little. Despite years in the simulation and witnessing so many fake gunfights and murders he knew this was different. This was not in Cobb's programming and that gun was not in Cobb's arsenal. That gun was supposed to be in _his_ desk, in _his_ lab, locked in a small electronic safe.

Jack heard the fear in Nathan's voice and studied Cobb. That was not an old west revolver, it was a semi-automatic. He knew he had been wrong now, because Nathan was genuinely scared. There was a pang of guilt for overreacting, accusing Nathan and not letting him explain himself, but that was replaced with an overwhelming need to protect him. Things fell into place and he let his anger just fall away. “What's the matter Sheriff? Am I a threat to WestWorld or am I a threat to whoever set your sights on Callister Raynes two years ago?”

“Sorry, I don't answer to you.” Cobb replied.

“Do you answer to him?” Jack said and hooked a thumb over his shoulder to Nathan as a way to lure the Sheriff's eyes away from his other hand going to his gun. Cobb didn't fall for it. “No? Apparently not. Who do you answer to? I'm wondering if maybe your old deputy took a hike because he didn't want to be a co-conspirator in all this. Maybe you told everyone Callister was up to no good because he learned something. Maybe that's why he freed the robots so they couldn't be under someone's control? I bet those robots talked to the guy who freed them, talked about all the stuff going on in town. Shame they died in the lab fire before anyone could ask them about it.”

Nathan watched him, Jack's calm reminded that he was the real deal. That this unexpected turn of events didn't phase him in the least. He was still working. He was now absolutely terrified of losing him. “Sheriff, I hope you have a very good reason for going off grid and coming into my house.”

“Sorry, I don't answer to you.” Cobb replied.

That was all Jack needed to hear, that and the fear in Nathan's voice. “Well then, you'll answer to me for _your_ crimes, Sheriff. It didn't make sense that you would go after Callister Raynes when Beverly Barlow was right under your nose. Maybe you got orders to keep eyes off of her so she could work, because who would suspect an AI of going off script? I mean, that _never_ happens, right?”

Nathan bit his lip. Jack's mocking sarcasm was making Cobb's eye twitch. Exactly Jack's intention, but there wasn't much he could do. From where he was standing he could see Cobb's finger on the trigger. “Jack...that gun's loaded.”

“How'd you find me if I had a untrackable horse?” Jack asked, casually resting his hand on his gun and wishing he was lucky enough to have a loaded one. He sure as hell hoped the damned thing worked like it was supposed to. Questions were to buy him time to draw, Cobb was not going to share anything. It was good that he just slept with the scientist who made these robots who could probably plug a device in Cobb's brain to find out who the hell sent him here. “And who did you _actually_ send that note to if it wasn't about getting a new leg?”

“Carl left tracks through the woods. I have eyes.” Cobb looked at him and said, “Add horse theft to your charges.”

Jack shrugged. “Might as well. You're just going to make up my story for me anyhow, right?”

“You should put your hands up and surrender. You are under arrest.”

“You know I can't do that.” Jack replied. “Lawman to lawman. You know I'm going to draw before surrendering to a dirty cop.”

“You think you can draw fast enough to get a shot off before I can shoot you?” Cobb asked. "I'm protecting the people of my county, nothing dirty about it."

“Listen, we have some _amazing_ instructors at Glencoe.” Jack said and smiled at him. “Actually the same guy teaches classes on fast draw and sleeping with witnesses. I got an 'A+'.”

“Your final warning, Carter.” Cobb said. "You'll get a fair trial."

“_Right._ You're going to shoot me before I see the inside of a cell. If this is my western frontier experience.....I'd like to go down in a blaze of glory, I always did like that song.” Jack said and before he could finish his sentence had the gun drawn.

Nathan couldn't believe the gunfight was over in the blink of an eye. He watched Cobb fall, Jack's gun still having it's effectiveness on the robot, and he felt his world completely stop as Jack recoiled from the impact of a bullet from a gun that should have never been in the hand of one of his robots.


	19. Wanted: Dead or Alive

_WestWorld_

Chapter 19

**Wanted: Dead or Alive**

* * *

Jack never got his gun higher than his hip, but got the shot off as fast as he could. He talked a lot of shit about his ability but he knew he was at a distinct disadvantage because of the holster position and the long barreled Peacemaker; it was a long way from his compact service weapon. He honestly didn't expect to just come out of this with a shoulder wound. He couldn't see where Cobb dropped, as the kitchen table was in his line of sight. “He's down?”

Nathan finally allowed himself to breathe again. “Yes.”

“Can you get his gun? I'll kick it to you.” Jack asked and raised his own in order to go over to check on Cobb's body and remove his weapon as a threat. Nathan wasn't moving, he didn't expect him to. This was a lot for a civilian, this was real. His own adrenaline was racing through his veins and he needed to ride that high as long as he could.

“Yeah.” Nathan bent down for the gun that lay on the floor. He realized then that maybe he should be more concerned about Jack being next to the ex-Sheriff's body since he was obviously not running the same program he used to. He knew Jack was standing in front of him, ready to shoot again if need be. Putting himself in front of him to protect him. Cobb had a hole in his chest though, and it was an indicator of where he was shot. At least he had the foresight to ingrain that into the engineering instead of the programming. A fail safe he never thought they'd need. He stood up, gun in hand as Jack backed up to stand next to him. He simply felt numb as he saw the blood staining his shirt. “You've been shot.”

“Yeah. More concerned about Cobb. He doesn't bleed. Is he down for good?” Jack asked.

“His era of robot didn't. He powered down. The gun sort of pulls metal out of the body to make a gunshot wound and that is metal from circuits that link to his power source. It disrupts the circuit, like flipping a light switch.” Nathan explained. He was feeling a little more like himself now, the science flipping his own mental switch back on so he could focus on the man needing medical attention beside him. “Can you sit down and let me look at your shoulder now?”

“Can you shut the door?” Jack asked and pulled a chair over to the end of the table so he could watch Cobb and the door. He wanted to check the outside but he knew Cobb acted alone. That guy was covered in mud from trekking through the woods on one leg with a stick. 

Nathan put his gun on the table, then did as instructed. He turned and looked at Jack who still was focused on the intruder and mentally cataloging the doors and windows in case there were more enemies. Blood was staining his shirt. He went for the first aid kit in the bathroom and came back to place it on the table as he knelt beside Jack. “Can I look at this?”

Jack nodded. The adrenaline was still pumping and keeping him ready to fight and thankfully keeping his mind off the pain. That would change as soon as Nathan started poking at it. For both their sakes, he started asking questions. “So, something's definitely wrong with Cobb, right?”

Nathan didn't reprimand him for asking him a question that would lead him to an answer he already knew. He appreciated the verbal handhold to walk him out of his shocked stupor and back to functional. “The robot's programming doesn't allow them to use real firearms. They can log it as a threat, they can confiscate, but they don't have the command path to comprehend that it's a usable gun. It's like it's a dangerous rock to them. If that makes sense?”

He winced as Nathan's hands ripped his shirt open and pressed a gauze pad down on his wound. “Who is the programming guy who can undo that? Zane? Callister?”

“Neither. They would need multiple access codes to get into the core programming of a robot. Even the early models. They would be capable, but don't have the access.” Nathan said and took Jack's hand and put it on the hole in his shoulder. “Keep pressure on that.”

“Ok.” Jack said and sat up to make sure he kept an eye on the damned robot. “Well, someone did.”

Nathan shook his head and went for the antiseptic. He knew this wound wasn't life threatening but he was still disturbed by Jack's calm and focus. “Jack...I swear to you, for what it's worth, I had nothing to do with this.”

“I got that.” Jack said as he tenderly helped him out of his shirt. He smiled at him and saw the lines of worry on his face. “He doesn't answer to you, remember?”

“Yeah, well I didn't do a very good job of answering you.” Nathan said as he looked at the blood stained shirt in his hand swallowed hard. He threw it on the table and checked Jack's back for an exit wound before walking around to kneel in front of him again. He placed Jack's arm on the table to assist in dressing it. “I just...I find myself enjoying the way you think, how you leap from evidence to deductive reasoning to just throwing random facts out to see what you get. I've never met anyone like you. I can't guess where you're going to jump next, I shouldn't have just sat back and enjoyed the show. Nobody keeps me on my toes and holds their own against me like this. I should have stopped you and explained myself but you're so hard to predict....”

“Weirdest compliment I've ever gotten from someone.” Jack said and realized Nathan was un-composed and rambling because of him. Maybe the shock. Maybe the fear of watching a gunfight in his living room. Maybe because he thought he was going to die.

“I mean it. It means a lot to me. Your aggravating little 'Carter moments'. You're all over the place and chaotic in your ideas. You mean a lot to me already because you wield truth like a sword and I just....” Nathan pulled out the antiseptic. “I'm told I enjoy the pain of being cut by the truth without actually doing anything to rectify it.”

“Well that sounds like something to come out of marriage counseling.” Jack said and yelped as Nathan cleaned the wound.

“Yeah, well you took some leaps that sounded like you had some baggage too. I swear my divorce was not that bad. I gave Ally half my shares after we almost split the first time and then reconciled, an offering to show my work didn't mean more to me that her. She just wanted me to come home and I...couldn't give her that part of me. So I gave her stock in my work instead. We're two different people who just didn't work well married.”

“Did you go to marriage counseling?” Jack asked, this time with the focus on where this investigation was going. Stakes had been raised and this was way more dangerous than he thought it was.

“What?” Nathan asked, another one of those Jack leaps he wasn't anticipating.

“Marriage counseling.” Jack repeated. “You and Allison?”

“Yes. I tried. We both tried to make it work.” Nathan said enjoying having something to talk about while he worked on examining Jack, but it was a weird topic to choose. “Is this really relevant _right now_?”

“Yeah, because nobody in this place trusts humans the way they do the robots.” Jack said and Nathan focused on him and he could see he was right. There was a light in his eyes when he saw an answer too, a Eureka moment of his own. Maybe he liked surprising him as much as he liked being surprised. More than as rivals, more than a game, more like appreciation of a new perspective. He felt like they shined lights on each other's blind spots. Whatever the hell was going on in WestWorld, they'd solve it together.

“Beverly.”

“So it _was _Beverly.” Jack said and sighed. He knew that was significant trivia and would come back to be relevant. He had two players in this that were still unknowns that he needed more information on: Martha and Beverly. “She didn't trick anyone into thinking she was a shrink, someone programmed her that way.”

“Yeah. We needed someone who would manage all the difficult people in Eureka that have high stress jobs. Small town. You know when someone is seeing a shrink so she had office hours in the park too. She was supposed to keep my people from having breakdowns but also spot the breakdowns before they happened. That service was needed on guests too, because some people don't just want to hurt robots.”

“So she saw the divorce coming.” Jack said. He didn't want to overload Nathan with his theory that Beverly was a spy for someone outside WestWorld, not right now. He'd get to that theory on his own when he was thinking more clearly. “I was married to a psychologist, they see things.”

“We instilled in her a code of ethics.” Nathan felt like an idiot. He had gotten lazy and just reused the same AI for too much, allowing her to harvest a plethora of information she used against them all. However she was not coded that way, she didn't have that program. Someone within WestWorld simply took advantage of that oversight and was going to use it to bring him to his knees. This all came back to someone within his organization betraying him and he had been too willing to step aside and submerge himself in his work after the divorce. He brought this on himself.

“Ethics can't be coded can they? Even in artificial intelligence? Human reasoning is too flawed.” Jack said and looked at Cobb's body. “I mean, look at Cobb. He was doing his job. Protecting the people of this county. He marked me as a threat and he was right. I'm afraid that he also marked you as a threat too. He's justified by his code of ethics to eliminate us because we could destroy his world and those he protects within it.”

“Jack, we need to get you to a doctor.” Nathan said as he realized the bullet was lodged in him and there was nothing he could do about it. He had no idea what it hit or where it was.

“You're a doctor.” Jack said and finally two watery hazel eyes looked away from the hole in his shoulder and at his face.

“Not this kind.”

“The kind that can open up Cobb and find out what he's actually programmed to do? By who?” Jack asked.

"Yes, but.." Nathan looked at his shoulder and put other gauze pad on it. "You need a doctor."

“Right now, we need to get out of here.“

“Jack..”

“Nathan.” Jack said and sat up and kissed him. Yeah the guy was probably involved in some shady business shit but it's not like he was surprised by that. He cared. He was still shaken. He needed him to focus. He wanted to protect him. “I'm fine. This is part of the job.”

“Being stupid?” Nathan asked, his own voice sounded so strange to him. It didn't carry the mocking tone, it sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

“Just bandage it and stop the bleeding.” Jack instructed. “That's all you can do in the field anyway. It will keep my mind off how much my ass hurts.”

“This is not the time for jokes.”

“No it's not.” Jack said. “I've been too casual about this job, red flags everywhere and I just didn't put it all together until now. This whole situation is about _you,_ Nathan. Not me. Do you honestly think Cobb would walk in here and shoot me and not run through the possible way this was all going to go down? The robot with a modern gun, with programming he's not supposed to have, shoots the US Marshall who comes to WestWorld to uncover this crazy scheme? Shoots me in Dr. Nathan Stark's cabin? I bet that gun is yours too.”

“Jack I'm not behind this.”

“I know you're not.” Jack said. Nathan sounded scared that he thought he was guilty of this and Jack ran a hand over his face. “You're the target, and I was brought here to protect you by someone who loves you very much.”

“The gun is mine.” Nathan said. The caress made him think. Made him focus. “However, you would never be able to prove I programmed an AI to shoot you, and you would testify that I didn't do it and my lawyers would tear apart this case before you even made it....”

“I didn't think it was the time to point out that the intention was probably to kill me.” Jack said. Nathan's brain was a few steps behind him, he was in shock. That was understandable. “Probably after I showed up in town shot. Probably after I went to the Sheriff's office and unloaded all my suspicions about you, if Lupo was there. My guess is Andy is on duty. Probably end up in the hotel where there are other humans instead. Better witnesses. Doubt I would live long enough to catch the morning train out of here.”

Nathan realized he missed the obvious. Jack was petting him, consoling him as if he was the victim. _Shit_. “Am I that much of a wreck?”

“You're handling this better than most.” Jack said. “Home invasions are rough. Assassination attempts in your house, even more so.”

“I'm afraid of losing you.” Nathan said. “Which is irrational since I _just met you_.”

“Hey, I'm pretty endearing.” Jack said with a reassuring smile. “With my talk about wormholes, blackholes, plotholes, assholes and bullet holes.”

Nathan sighed. “You are. I've created the perfect world, perfect artificial humans and what appears to be the perfect life and convinced myself that was all true until I met you. Nothing, no one, has ever made me feel like you. You make me question the man I've become.”

“You actually have great bedside manners, Dr. Stark.” Jack said and ran his hand through his hair.

“I'd like to get you back to bed and get you some _medical _attention.” Nathan sighed.

“We need to leave, now. Cobb sent a message via dog to someone, from what Taggart tells me the dog acts on it's own to spot problems in WestWorld. So he thinks I'm a threat too. You're probably not acting like you normally do either. I've compromised you. So we're both outlaws now.”

“Wanted, dead or alive?”

“Probably dead since I'm not going to go along with a nefarious plot to destroy you and you're not one to give up your company or be outmaneuvered when you find out what's going on. It's a lot easier to take your assets if you're dead.” Jack said.

“Shit.” Nathan said and looked at Cobb. He needed to get inside the AI's head to get answers.

“So where do we go?”

“Not Eureka and not my lab. I need to keep Cobb away from all other AIs in case this is a virus. He got the gun out of my office, it's isolated from the lab.” Nathan shook his head. “Don't ask me to wormhole a warehouse.”

“I think that is what someone wants.” Jack said. “They can't find the warehouse the 1.0 robots are in. Would you freeze him if you felt like he was the evidence you needed to prove you didn't shoot me?”

“Yes.”

“I wish this place wasn't like a world inside the world.” Jack said, feeling the adrenaline wear off. “However, this place, being cut off from the outside world like it.... is has made me feel isolated and on edge the entire time. Kind hate being right about feeling trapped and not having any exits.”

“It makes everyone else feel secure.” Nathan said. “Which is why I needed you to open my eyes.”

“What if that's the point? Protect it, keep it a secret, work to stay safe. Your think tank is a pretty rare and spectacular thing, you think someone else doesn't want it?” Jack asked.

“People don't know it's here.”

“A ton of people do because you recruit and hire the best. This threat is coming from within. If nobody outside of GD knows it's here, nobody in the world is going to notice when the people running it get taken out and someone else takes over. All these geniuses, all this tech, that is worth way _way_ more than your current stock prices for an amusement park.” Jack said and sat up straighter and tried to test out his shoulder to see how worthless he was now. Oh, that was going to make using a gun difficult. “Your assets get seized if you're put on trial for murder of a US Marshall. Your assistant was already heading to trial. Your wife just divorced you.”

“Ally has nothing to do with this.”

“Is _she _seeing anyone?”

“Dr. Grant.”

“The Bridge device dude?”

“Yes.”

“So she's going to space with him?” Jack asked. “The space thing is a done deal?”

“He's the reason we have FTL travel. We are definitely a 'go' on space.” Nathan had been angry when he first learned about them seeing each other and he blamed that on not liking Grant. Grant and his vintage 1950's charm that he wanted to blast back to the past. Things didn't sit right with him,but since he made Ally happy he backed off. Backed right off the map and into WestWorld to work himself hard enough he didn't think about them.

“So no bridge device in the bathroom?” Jack asked.

“Sorry, no.” Nathan said and placed a light kiss on Jack's lips. “I do however has some fantastic pain killers that will help make riding out of here more enjoyable for you.”

“I don't want to be drugged.” Jack said and looked at Cobb. “I need to stay alert, I'm sure there is more where he came from.”

“I'm a doctor. Doctor's orders.”

“You're not that kind of doctor.” Jack said and Nathan's smile said he was going to drug him no matter what.

“I don't handle drugs well.” Jack explained. His shoulder was beginning to throb though. “I know you mean well Nathan, but I really need to be on my game right now.”

“Yeah?” Nathan said and came out with a syringe of a special blend of pain killers courtesy of the GD medical division. “This is made in our labs with the specific target audience of people like you. When an injury needs to be minimized in a life or death situation in order to get the victim to safety. Everyone has it in the kit here, in the event of a injury happening when nobody is around to help.”

“So it won't have side effects?” Jack asked. “I had a root canal once and my ex still laughs about how ridiculous I was.”

“Other than you possibly bleeding to death because of a wound you're not able to have scream at you to tell you something is wrong, you should be fine.” Nathan said and took his arm and pulled out his supplies need to do an intravenous injection. “Trust me, I'm a doctor.”

“We keep throwing that fact around and honestly I'm not sure how any of your doctorates make sense. Who specializes in everything?”

“Me. Bored, young me.” Nathan said and prepped the injection site and smiled at him. “We good?”

“I guess I already let you penetrate me...” Jack mumbled and looked away as Nathan slipped into his vein with practiced precision.

“That's the spirit.” Nathan said and removed the needle, placed cotton on the spot and taped it down. He kissed Jack's cheek.

“It was more of a reminder to myself that I already compromised myself so why not add drugs to the list.” Jack said. “Just remember, I warned you.”

“You'll be fine. Let me protect you for a bit.” Nathan said and cleaned up. “I'll pack a few things and then we can go to my lab. I'll get you one of my shirts.”

“Where are we going next?” The drugs acted fast. He felt better already and even better when Nathan helped him into one of his shirts. 

“We'll head to my lab. Pick up my horse and a few things. I'll figure out where we're heading by then.” Nathan replied and put Jack's arms into the sleeves as he slumped a little deeper into the chair. He quickly buttoned everything as he began to question the dosage of the drug he gave him. “Let's get moving. We need to get Cobb on your horse and I could use a hand with that.”


	20. End of the Line

_WestWorld_

Chapter 20

**End of the Line**

* * *

Jack waited outside the lab with the horses and tried to fight off the drugs Nathan gave him. He felt good. Too good. He _knew_ this was going to be a problem.

He looked over at Cobb's body hanging over his saddle, the robot body wrapped in Taggart's T.R.A.S.H bags. He kept checking to make sure he was there and not coming back to life. So far so good! Getting shot definitely took!

He poked himself in the shoulder, mainly to double check to if he really got shot and it _definitely took_. He bit his lip. The bonus to this stupid move was that the pain seemed to chase away the happy feeling the drugs were giving him. Nathan had stopped the bleeding, said the bullet was not near an artery but that it would need to be surgically removed. Nathan waited long enough to get moving to make sure he wasn't bleeding to death, he was actually a really attentive doctor for not being_ that kind_ of doctor. Patched up and drugged up, he just needed to worry about going into shock. All good! 

About the only shock he was suffering from was the shock of how fast he trusted the guy again. He blew up thinking that this had been the genius toying with him, but the way Nathan's voice shook when Cobb came in....well that told him more than words ever would.

He was chosen to come here for a reason, and that reason was to protect Nathan Stark.

_No_, he came here looking for Zoe and Callister! He kept letting that go to the wayside and now everything was going to hell and they really needed to find the kids!

_Oh No_. He was definitely not going to be able to fight these drugs for much longer. Nathan said there was a little bit of flexibility in how they worked, the victim would still be in a dangerous situation and may need to override the high with adrenaline. Well, his adrenaline was about tapped out and the high was creeping in. 

Where was Nathan? What was taking so long?

Nathan had offered to let Jack ride on his horse with him, and he was glad for that. He was confident he could stay on his feet and sit upright, but the motions of the horse would be absolute hell. So the drugs were welcome, as was the offer of the picturesque ride behind a gorgeous dude across the western frontier. He just hoped he wasn't going to earn his 'bitch fell off the back' t-shirt doing this, but Nathan assured him his giant black horse was smooth. Perfect match for his owner, of course, because he was handmade. Jack had agreed because his shoulder hurt, his ass hurt and he wasn't going to be opposed to clinging to Nathan right now. Especially since he was wearing his shirt and his smelled so distinctly like the man.

Or maybe that was the pain killers again? He was feeling kinda high.

Or _maybe_, Nathan could have just played him and used a secret door in his warehouse to go back to Eureka and signal security to come arrest him. He would be easily subdued, as he was shot and had just received a shot of something probably heavily regulated because of it's addictive properties.

Like WestWorld.

Like Nathan 'ride me hard' Stark.

God. He actually did that! Did _him_! Holy shit it had been so long since he had sex! Why was that? Guilt? Maybe? Working too much? Maybe. Nobody turning him on like Nathan did? Definitely. Best sex of his life? _Absolutely_.

He giggled and put his head in the horse's mane. He was _not_ handling the drugs well and he knew what happened when his mouth was allowed to say things when he was on pain killers! He looked up as the door opened on the warehouse and chastised himself for expecting betrayal. No...expecting the fantasy to come to an abrupt end.

Fantasy. _ Of course_ working was some kind of fantasy for him. Hot guy. Murder. Mystery. Super smart possible villain genius with a dick that could rearrange his organs.

“I have more pills for you.” Nathan said as he walked quickly over to Jack. He held up a shoulder holster. “This is for you or me?”

“Nathan Stark, _you_ are the man of my dreams.”

Nathan smiled at Jack as he reached out and pet his hair. Well tried. His hand swiped down his face. He wasn't sure if he was trying to pet him or the horse but he wasn't going to complain about any of it. He definitely wasn't exaggerating about not handling drugs well. “For the drugs or leather strap goods?”

“Honestly _so_ many of my needs are being fulfilled right now, I'm not sure where to begin.” Jack said and ran his hand down Nathan's chest and felt his way over to his hand with the offered drugs. Yeah, adrenaline was gone. He was relaxed. Nathan made him relaxed. _Fuuuuuck._ He was going to embarrass himself.

“I knew I gave you too high a dosage of pain killers.” Nathan said and let Jack's hands roam over him none-the-less. 

“I feel good. God, you make me feel _so_ good.” Jack said and got grabby with his hands in order to find the pills. Nathan just held them up to put on his lips instead and he sucked them off his finger.

Nathan cleared his throat as Jack slobbered on his fingers and he ended up deciding to place the pills in his mouth. He took his fingers back and raised a tin cup up to show what he was offering. “Just a sip of water....”

“You know I swallow.” Jack said as he chewed the pills and regretted it immediately. Then he bent forward and then sucked on the offered water from the coffee cup without removing it from Nathan's hand and gulped them down.

Nathan couldn't help but smile at him, but he took the water away and said. “You don't need to be eating and drinking right now, I just wanted to get a few more helpful drugs in your system since you're not exactly getting immediate medical attention. We need to get out of here so I can have you lay down and...”

Jack giggled.

“Nevermind.” Nathan said. That giggle was adorable and he had to remember Jack was being influenced by drugs right now. “I'll help get you up on the horse.”

“I don't need help getting up.” Jack said and wiped his mouth off. “You just have the refractory period of a sex god and _nobody_ can keep up with that.”

“I knew I gave you too much of the drug.” Nathan said and Jack grabbed the holster and tried to put it on him, whimpering as he went. He helped him because he only had use of one arm and seemed like he was going to start using his teeth.“I hate that this makes you adorable.”

“This holster makes you hotter than I can handle.” Jack laughed. “I'd blow you right now if I wasn't confused about chewing and swallowing...”

Nathan kissed him. He needed him to concentrate on something other than his chest and Nathan got a taste of various pills for his efforts. “I appreciate that very much. I really appreciate how horny and comfortable you are with your sexual needs a lot more. However I am not comfortable with your injury or your drug induced state to take you up on any offers. How about this? I'll get on the horse and help you up.”

Jack reached up and placed his finger on Nathan's lips, much like the way Nathan did when left him wanting to give up his manhunt earlier in the day. Instead of telling him how arousing that had been his mouth said, “I love the way your lips move when you talk.”

“I don't think I overdosed you, I think you're a lightweight.” Nathan put his supplies in the saddle bags and then swung up on his horse. “Give me your hand and I'll pull you up.”

“I'd rather climb up you, every inch of you is gorgeous and that's a lot of inches.” Jack put his head on his thigh and growled.

“Give me your hand because you still have a hole in your shoulder that you might bleed to death from if you do that.” Nathan pet his head as Jack made a gurgling sound that sounded like a drowning animal. He was smiling anyway, enjoying this even though they were in a pretty awful situation right now; dead Sheriff five feet away from them, Jack shot and high as a kite and the carefully crafted western world he made more than likely out to kill them both. However Jack trusted him which made him feel just as good as the narcotics were making Jack feel. Despite the extravagance he surrounded himself with, he have very simple needs.

“Is this the only time you're going to let me ride behind you?” Jack asked as he reached up to grab the back of the saddle but only ended up grabbing Nathan's ass.

“Jack, we're hauling a dead body through the woods and are probably being hunted by an all seeing computer system as threats. You really want to talk about my need for control?” Nathan asked.

“What else are we going to talk about?” Jack asked as he let Nathan pull him onto the horse and he struggled to figure out where to sit. His shoulder screamed, despite the drugs, as he couldn't help but bang it into something.

“Maybe... all those questions you have about this place?” Nathan had to twist around to get Jack to understand he wasn't going to lay over his lap “Ride behind me, idiot.”

“I'm trying.” Jack hissed and finally got his leg over the horse's rump and then happily wrapped his arm around Nathan, put his head between his shoulders and squeezed.

Nathan started riding, checking to see if Jack would fall off or stay on before they got going too fast. Carl's reins were tied to the saddle horn and he followed behind them. Jack stayed on as they made their way around the lake, however he was doing more than just staying on. “Can you stop fingering my holster?”

“I need it to hold on.”

“I gave you too much of the drug.” Nathan shook his head.

“No, this happens to me all the time with pain killers. I warned you.”

“You did.”

“Is this the right era for medicine to be all about morphine, opiates and orgasms?”

“Yes but...”

“Oh, prescribe me some more pain medicine Doctor Stark.”

Nathan grunted as he resumed stroking the holster and his chest with it. “I think you have had enough.”

“Never enough of you. Impossible.” Jack said. “Where are we going?”

“The old train at the end of the line.” Nathan said as they entered the woods behind the cabin and rode down the path that he knew so well from his morning jog.

“That awesome twisted broken one? Under the Eureka bridge?” Jack asked. 

“No, an abandoned train.” Nathan said as he asked his horse to move out and they glided through the woods. “Old train we parked at a closed depot at a ghost town. Prior to just about everyone's arrival to Eureka, one of the very first narratives. Only a few people even would remember it when asked.”

“Who?” Jack asked.

“Henry. Taggart.” Nathan began thinking of the people who were here from the beginning. "Dactylos."

“Martha? Callister?” Jack asked.

“Yeah.” Nathan said and added. “There is a Pullman car, box car, tons of old supplies. Completely off the map at this point as we condemned the depot. It was our first headquarters.”

“Neat.”

“Are you doing OK, Jack?”

“Feeling good. Loving this holster.” Jack said and licked his lips. “I'd tell you if I was going into shock or are bleeding to death.”

“Not something you're qualified to diagnose.” Nathan said.

“Feeling high, not light headed. This holster will keep my heart beating _for sure_.” Jack sighed. “I'm not dying. I told you I'm going to protect you, Nathan. That's my job. That's what I've been telling everyone all day and nobody listened. I'm good at my job.”

“Thanks for believing me.” Nathan said. “I don't think many people would. Especially after they accumulated so much evidence that made it look like I planned this.”

“You're definitely capable of being a criminal mastermind. Probably equipped to make a bid for world domination. Probably guilty of business crime stuff.” Jack mumbled and startled to get tired, he ran his hand into Nathan's vest and over his heart. “But you've got a good heart, Nathan. An evil guy as competent as you would have taken over the world by now.”

“Thanks.” Nathan said couldn't help but take advantage of Jack's drugged state by asking, “I can't understand, how you can see that?”

“I'm not seeing, because it's dark.” Jack said. “I'm feeling it. Your heart is located here.”

“Thanks.” Nathan rolled his eyes. He deserved that. He reached up and took Jack's hand out of his vest. “_That_, however, is my nipple; _not _my heart.”

“You're the doctor.”

“Get some rest, Jack.” Nathan said as they continued down the path and he wove his fingers into Jack's so that he could keep a hold of him. It would help him feel if his hands got cold or he started shaking. “I'm sorry I got you shot. I'm sorry...I didn't take this threat seriously and you paid the price.”

“It's my job. I always work.” Jack squeezed him in a one armed hug. “It was worth it or I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have had the chance at you. Even if it's for just a little while.”

“Easy to make things work when we both know we have to return to separate worlds, isn't it?” Nathan voiced the one lingering fact they hadn't brought up. Eventually this would come to and end and they were so different.

“Yeah. I do that on purpose, I'm told. I also don't want to let someone I care for down again. I work and love to work and it's easier to just keep things casual.” Jack sighed. "Getting your heart broke hurts too."

“I understand.” Nathan said. “Well if this doesn't end up with us dead or arrested, I'd like to see you again.”

“Hell yes!" Jack said and squeezed him tight. "If I have to arrest you, I'll pay you conjugal visits.”

“Not what I meant.” Nathan said. “There's also a good reason I'm telling you this when you're high on pain meds.”

“Ummm....because you're hiding in the woods working because you were hurt by your failed marriage and it's easier to work than deal with it?” Jack squeezed his hand. “Maybe I can stop running all over the country and you can come out of the countryside and we can meet in the middle and...”

“Shoot the local Sheriff and drag his body across the woods of Oregon where we plan to remove his brain and extract information?”

“Best. Date. Ever.” Jack snorted and nuzzled Nathan's back a little more, trying to find a comfortable place to rest for a nap.

“We aim to please here in WestWorld.” 

“You definitely pleased.”

* * *

They arrived at the old depot after an hour ride through the woods. Jack had dozed off and Nathan kept his hand entwined in his for the duration of the ride. His mind had gone through suspects, mentally cataloging everyone who could know how to program Cobb and who had the most to gain from his demise. A case could be made for a lot of people but, he eventually narrowed the field down. He wouldn't jump to conclusions until he saw the data from Cobb's CPU but first he needed to get Jack comfortable and look him over again. It passed the time quickly even if he was worried Jack would need medical attention he couldn't get for him stranded out in the woods. He could call for help, but it was an absolute last resort as he worried about who he could trust now. “Jack, we're here.”

He was answered with a squeeze and something that sounded like a purr. He let go of the hand he was holding. “Jack, I need you to wake up so I get get you off the horse and inside. I'd carry you, but the doors on this train are pretty narrow as it's all original.”

Jack opened his eyes and groaned as the pain hit him. His shoulder was on fire and he knew the drugs most definitely had worn off. “Drugs wore off.”

“Can you stay upright so I can slide off and help you down?”

“Is that a train?” Jack asked as he turned his head and rested it against Nathan's shoulder. The night was clear and the stars were beautiful and the faint outline of a building and train could be seen in the dark. His eyes were still blurry from sleep and probably the drugs too.

“Yes.” Nathan said and swung his leg over his horse's neck and slipped out of the saddle. As soon as he hit the ground he was by Jack's side in case he fell over. “Lean into me. Hook your arm around my neck and just fall towards me. I got you.”

“You're really setting the bar high for a first date, ya know?” Jack said as he did as instructed and he ended up in Nathan's arms and was held tightly against his chest before he set him down.

Nathan smiled, but kept his arm around Jack to help him stay steady. He looked him over, still able to see his handsome face in the dark. “Sex. Dinner. Gunfight. Drugs. Attempted murder. Probe your wound in a condemned train. I know how to treat a guy right.”

Jack smiled as he leaned into Nathan, he wasn't quite steady on his feet yet. “That's right, talk dirty to me after I lose the functionality of my dominant hand.”

“I have more drugs if you want them.” He said and started walking then to the train. “I'll come back out for the supplies and horses when I get you settled.”

“No.” Jack said and then straighten up a bit and realized his legs would support him. His shoulder screamed at him. “I appreciate it, especially because the ride here would have been awful, but I need to be alert. We got to figure this thing out.”

“Whatever you need, Jack.” Nathan helped him up onto the train platform where they could reach the stairs of the caboose without having to make a leap from the ground. He took one long stride over the gap between platform and car and then turned to help Jack across.

“I need you to be honest with me.” Jack said. “I know things are classified and sensitive, but to figure out who is behind this I need to know everything.”

“Whatever you want to know.” Nathan assured him as he reached over to steady him. As Jack stepped across the gap he tried to reach out with his right arm, out of habit, to grab the railing. Nathan knew he regretted it from the way he pressed his head into his shoulder as soon as he got onto the caboose landing. They stood there a minute while the pain subsided, Nathan wrapping his arms around him to provide some comfort and support in the only way he could.

Jack took a few deep breaths, maybe tying his arm to his chest wasn't a bad idea. He stayed there longer than he needed, Nathan's embrace was warm and the way he ran his fingers over his back was a very sweet gesture. This guy was something else; if they lived through this and Nathan wasn't arrested, he was going to try to make something of this_ thing_ they had. He stepped away, just far enough to look up at him in the dark. This was a really cool date if you took away all the evil shit that was going on however there was still a lot of evil shit going on. “I can't keep being surprised by everything. The next robot to kick down the door is probably going to kill us both.”

“Let me check your wound and I'll answer whatever you want.” Nathan nodded and placed a light kiss on his forehead. Fuck it. He was probably supposed to die today and the last thing he wanted was to die without really living because he _thought_ too damned much. Jack was right, he needed to start being honest about everything and first thing was to be honest with himself over how damned much he liked this guy. He stepped back to open the caboose door to let Jack in first.

Jack ran his hand up Nathan's chest to the shoulder holster and tapped the grip of the gun to indicate _now_ was the time to get that out and prepare to use it. He didn't remember asking Nathan if he knew how, but something told him the guy knew how to use a lot of things well.

Nathan understood and ran his hand over Jack's, squeezing it to show he understood and was accepting the task, then drew his pistol from it's sheath. He wanted to curse as Jack pulled away to go through the door first, despite not being armed, because that's who he was. He'd be the human shield if anyone was in there, the instructions to get the gun out were simply telling Nathan to protect himself because he could only do so much. He flicked the safety off and raised the gun with both hands as he stepped through the door with intentions to get in front of Jack however he was immediately blinded by the lights coming on.

Jack stopped in his tracks and squinted, trying to see who the figure was in front of them. Then he heard the telltale sound of a Colt Peacemaker being cocked, four distinct clicks as the hammer of the single action revolver was pulled back. That was not the sound Nathan's gun made, and that definitely was not good.


	21. Ambushed

_WestWorld_

Chapter 21

**Ambushed**

* * *

The lights were bright and Jack couldn't figure out why there were lights in this antique train or why his eyes would not adjust to them. He felt like he was on the receiving end of a tactical flashlight's beam and someone was going to ask for his ID and registration soon. He put his hands up as best he could and cleared his throat. Maybe introducing himself would defuse the situation? Not likely, but it was ingrained in him to announced he was a cop. “Hi. I'm....”

“Dad!”

“Zoe?” Jack squinted and saw some shadows moving in the light, before he could focus he was being hugged. He winced as she slammed into him.

“What the hell happened to your arm?” Zoe asked as she almost got her arm caught in the sling.

“It's on fire, like my eyes.” Jack replied honestly. He hugged her back. “I'm so glad you're safe, Zo.”

“So I'm off the hook for impersonating a flight attendant?” Zoe looked at him and he squinted at her.

“I'm sorry, do you think I've been replaced by a robot? You're in so much trouble I don't even know where to start.” Jack said appalled at the thought he'd forget all the dumb shit she did.

“Yeah, that's what I was checking for.” She said and then glanced at Stark who looked a lot less roughed up than her Dad did. Then she turned around and said, “Martha. Chill. It's my Dad.”

“Dr. Stark is also genuine.”

That...was kind of a weird thing to say, but the 1.0 models weren't exactly impressing him today. Jack was relieved when the lights dimmed and he saw the gun being uncocked and returned to a holster. So this was Martha. She stood in front of them looking like a real lady outlaw instead of the little black drone on a robot body he was picturing in his head. However, he was pretty sure the lights were coming out of her eyes which was kinda creepy. He looked over at Nathan who still had his gun out and looked like he saw a ghost. “Uh, Nathan? Stand down?”

Nathan swallowed hard. “That's _not_ Martha.”

“It's good to see you again, Nathan.” The A.I. said and then turned, removing the light from the room and walked to the door. She flipped on the lights in the car for them and walked out of it the way she came

“If it's not Martha, _who is it_?” Jack asked and looked down as Zoe pulled away from him.

“Kim Anderson.” Nathan said, the name coming out in a hushed whisper.

“_Are you sure_?" Jack asked. Kim Anderson, the scientist that died? "She had lighty eyeballs? Maybe you...”

“I'm sure.” Nathan said.

“She's being dramatic, but Callister said it was going to take something pretty over the top to get your attention. We got the body out of storage. Callister installed Martha's A.I. into it and she's still getting the feel for this body that came with a lot of memories that were not hers. So, maybe you'll be more inclined to listen to the dangers he's been warning you about.” Zoe said and could see from Stark's face that the plan had the desired effect. She tugged on her Dad's sleeve. “What happened to your arm?”

“Cobb shot me.” Jack said and Zoe's smile faded. “So Callister _is here_?”

“He's working in the Pullman car.” She said and then added. “Dad, you can't arrest him.”

“That's _exactly_ what I am going to do. Zoe, the game's over. We will take it from here.” Jack said and saw her get angry. He then realized Nathan hadn't moved or said a thing. He looked over at him, still shocked by seeing a woman back from the dead. “Are you going to be OK, Nathan?”

“Kim was human. Her body was burned. There was nothing left, that explosion left _nothing_ but a charred corpse. I can still remember the smell...” Nathan said and looked at the door where the robot had disappeared thru. “Why was there a body in storage?”

Jack could see it all on his face: the guilt and pain resurface from the past; the swallow and set jaw indicative of a man trying to not vomit as a vivid memory of a horrible smell came back to him.

“Well, if you two would stop stalling and come back to the Pullman car, we'll tell you.” Zoe said and looked at her Dad's shoulder with concern. “And maybe you can tell us how you got shot by a robot because they're not supposed to be able to do that. Callister had to modify the Colt to shoot lasers in order to give Martha a weapon to take out those geese.”

Jack was startled when Nathan suddenly sprung forward, striding through the car while putting his gun away. The guy really had a power walk, he could see how he intimidated people. He also vanished into the next car without a word. Well, that was one way to clear a room.

“So, he's cute.” Zoe said.

Jack looked down at his daughter who was smiling at him with that smile that said she pulled some 'Parent Trap' level bullshit to push him into a guy he might like. That conversation was for later. “Yeah, well this whole situation is _far_ from cute. What the hell, Zoe? Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?”

“Dad, I don't think you realize how much trouble _he's_ in.” She said and waved at the door Stark had disappeared through and turned to she her Dad stagger a little as he made his way towards the door. “You're really hurt.”

“Yes. Cobb really shot me.” Jack said and she was next to him in an instant, as if his 16 year old daughter was going to be able to hold him up if he collapsed. He looked up as Nathan returned, his face telling him he was back in control of this and ready to get back to business. “All clear?”

Nathan softened a little as Jack asked that. He was afraid he would think he abandoned him now that the were on to the truth. “They're clearing off a sofa for you. We need to get your shoulder looked at and then I'll deal with Cobb and put the horses in the box car.”

Jack walked toward him and Zoe dropped back, Nathan reached out and helped him walk through the caboose side by side. He looked around the car, there were beds and a stove, as it was intended to be the living quarters for the train employees. He assumed this was the kitchen from the amount of M.R.E. boxes laying in the corner. Zoe was really roughing it this time, she hated the military surplus meals he used to buy for camping trips. They made it to the door and Nathan stepped over to the next car and held out his arm for him. “Aren't there supposed to be planks or bridges or something between these rail cars for safety?”

“We parked it and abandoned it.” Nathan reminded him. “There is nothing safe about this train.”

“Cool. Just where I want my daughter to have her first apartment.” Jack said and made the leap over, Nathan scooping him up into his chest even though he didn't need the help. There was an extra squeeze, perhaps an apology for leaving him alone for a minute? He wasn't sure. Maybe he was more torn up about seeing Kim Anderson and Callister again than he was showing. Either way, he gave him a squeeze back. A thank you, a 'I got your back too'.

Zoe cleared her throat. “It might be dark out here but I can still see you two.”

Jack rolled his eyes and Nathan opened the door for him and he entered the luxurious Pullman car. All the extravagance of the height of the railroad era complete with velvet seats and curtains. He walked in and Martha stood beside a blond kid at a computer like a sentinel. “Callister Raynes, I presume?”

“Hello, Marshall Carter.” Callister said without looking up from his laptop. “It took you long enough to get here.”

Jack narrowed his eyes at him. It wasn't a statement of sass, just a statement of fact. “Yeah, well...”

“Jack, lay down. Zoe, take his bandage off.” Nathan said and threw his frock coat on the chair and took off the holster, laying it next to the sofa for Jack. “Martha, I need the first aid kit. Callister, are we still undetected by the system?”

“Yes.” Callister answered. “We're in a dark spot on the map. It would take someone actively searching for us here to see any disturbances, which is a possibility come daylight.”

Jack blinked as Nathan suddenly took charge, and to his amazement, everyone jumped into action. Except him. He stood there in the middle of the room until Zoe pulled him by his good hand over to the sofa. Martha came over with bandages and set them on the end table. Nathan rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands in a sink. So the Outlaw band had a new leader, that didn't take long. “What about the lights in the train?”

“The windows of the car are tinted, nobody can see in.” Callister informed him.

“It may be old, but we made modifications when we used it.” Nathan said.

“Dad, sit down.” Zoe said and tried to get his attention.

Jack looked at her and did as asked. She took off his sling and he took off his shirt, Nathan's shirt, and set it aside. By that time Nathan was back over and taking off his bandages before he could think that _maybe_ his kid shouldn't see him hurt.

“Zoe, can you put some saline solution on a gauze pad for me?” Nathan asked and pulled away the blood soaked pad on Jack's wound when she looked away. He tossed it aside and inspected it, it began bleeding a little because of the bandage removal but nothing concerning. Zoe handed him the wet gauze and he wiped the blood away. “Keep them coming.”

Jack tried to remain stoic, for his kid and also to make sure drugs were not administered again. He focused on the curtains and thought about the relevance of Kim Anderson's body being in a warehouse. Was someone trying to bring her back to life? Using her face for a robot seemed in bad taste, so there had to be a reason someone did it. He wanted to ask but couldn't because he would give away how much pain he was in by talking. Nathan worked quickly and he didn't even realize he was giving instructions on how to care for the wound to Zoe until he looked down and saw it was her applying the bandage.

“Tight. We want to apply pressure to keep it from bleeding. You're not going to cut off circulation, I promise.” Nathan said and together they wrapped up Jack with something more long term. “Alright, now the only thing left to do is lecture the patient about taking better care of himself and not being an idiot.”

“Oh, I can handle that.” Zoe said and watched Dr. Stark carefully help her Dad into a shirt that was a bit too big for him. Well, they really became something pretty fast. Just like Callister predicted.

“Lay down and stay put.” Nathan said as he buttoned up the shirt and then patted Jack on the cheek. “I'm going to go get Cobb and Zoe can help me with the horses.”

Jack found it weird he was not dragging Martha along as she seemed to be not doing anything. Did he not trust her? No. That wasn't it. He felt confident enough Nathan wouldn't leave him alone with her in his current state if that was the case. It seemed like he'd _want_ answers for how she was in Kim Anderson's body, answers he could get if he got her alone outside. “What aren't you telling me? Why aren't you sending one of _them_ to take care of the body and hide the horses if it's as urgent as it seems? Cobb was heavy, you're going to have to drag him around if you go alone.”

“Dr. Stark ordered us to stay in here.” Martha said. “When he came in to check out the car ahead of you.”

“Her, I get.” Jack said. “She's a robot and might catch something from Cobb if the T.R.A.S.H. bag rips. What's Callister doing that's so important that he can't do robot autopsy with you? Wormholing warehouses?”

“Callister's AI.” Nathan said and Jack took that in stride, not questioning how he could consider a robot a child or why he might hide that. 

“OK.” Jack said and Callister looked up at him, his eyes searching for reaction. “I guess I see why you guys had a falling out about selling robots.”

“Is _that_ what you told him?” Callister asked.

“_Not_ the time to get into it.” Nathan said and stood up.

“Oh. _That_ sounds familiar.” Zoe said and rolled her eyes.

“Hey!” Jack said. Well that was apparently the wrong thing to say.

“So this is about me getting attached to _my kind_?” Callister asked.

Nathan looked over at Callister and said more sternly, “_Not_ the time.”

“Never is, Dad.” Callister replied and went back to typing.

“Like I said, _sounds familiar_.” Zoe said and crossed her arms and glared at her Dad.

“Hey!” Jack said and wondered how the tides turned against him and Nathan so quickly. He shared a commiserating look with Nathan. “We're not the ones on trial here, you two...”

“Are the delinquents?” Zoe finished his sentence for him.

“Um, _yes_?” Jack said. Why was that in question?

“So you don't need my help _hiding a body_, then?” Zoe asked.

“Cobb's....” Jack heard Callister stop typing and felt Martha's glare. They were just waiting for him to say 'just a robot' and he changed the direction he was going with his statement. “Um...was there to kill us both. He shot me!”

“_Later_. ” Nathan snapped and ended the conversation. Both kids looking at him annoyed and Jack looking perplexed. He pointed to Zoe and indicated he wanted her to follow him with an authoritative wave of his hand, and then left the car.

Jack sat there and watched Zoe leave, practically stomping out of the car. He then looked at Martha and Callister who were still staring at him with that 'Say, we're just robots. I dare you' look. Instead of engaging them he laid down on the couch, picked the holster up and laid it on his chest and closed his eyes to take a nap while he could. Not the kind of ambush he was thinking they walked into and he really was in too much pain to deal with this. If Zoe thought she was going to get somewhere arguing with Nathan, she was welcome to try.


	22. Divide and Conquer

_WestWorld_

Chapter 22

**Divide and Conquer**

* * *

“So, you don't see your son in years and the first thing you do is order him around? Like he's a dog, like he's a machine?” Zoe asked. “Maybe a little pat on the back is in order for playing you as well as he did. It's not like you actually found us, we had to put ourselves in the one place you'd eventually have to look. Admit you're not in control of anything around here.”

Nathan jumped down off the caboose landing onto the ground and then turned and blocked the stairs to look at Zoe. “You think I don't recognize Callister's work? You think I didn't see your smiles when I interacted with your Dad? You think I don't know that you used the Federal Employee database as fodder for your dating simulation?”

“Yeah, we did _too_ good of a job.” Zoe bent down to look him in the eye. “You two are perfect for each other.”

“We don't have time for this.” Nathan said and was impressed with how much she was like her Dad, picking a fight at the worst time. “What _is_ your problem?”

“This is our operation and you just walk in and start giving orders...”Zoe said and poked him in the chest.

“Excuse me?” Nathan interrupted. “You mean, your criminal operation, right? Hijacking my computer systems? Breaking into warehouses and stealing bodies? Stealing warehouses?! Let's not even get into violating natural law by recklessly hitting the button on a prototype bridge device enough times to make you an honorary Fargo!”

“Yeah, _we're_ the criminals. It's not like your son checked his Standard Operating Procedure Manual out of the public library, it came from your personal one. ” Zoe stood up and turned around leaving by way of the train platform instead. “Did you ever think that this _might be_ the extent we had to go to in order to get your attention?”

“_We_?” Nathan watched her jump down off the depot deck and cross the tracks. “So you two _are_ in this together? Did that start with him stealing the money from the government or was that your idea to make sure your Dad got involved?”

“I don't know why he took that money, he didn't tell me because he didn't want it on my hands.” Zoe said.

“Plausible deniability.” Nathan said.

“Yeah, he learned that from you.” She spat.

“I seriously doubt he learned anything about covering his ass considering the way he went about this takeover.” Nathan said in a huff. The hostility was just radiating off her. Callister must have used her as his therapist.

“You should be thanking us.” Zoe said. “Callister made sacrifices to come back here. He knows my Dad is going to send him to prison because that's what my Dad does. He's back here to save _you_.”

“From who?” Nathan finally yelled.

“Yourself.” She said and stomped off to the horses. “Are you going to help me carry your baggage or do you want to keep ignoring it?”

“Excuse me?” Nathan felt like he was going a full 12 rounds without a regulation break.

“Oh come on. I've been the kid in this situation. You never get your nose out of work long enough to see your world falling apart around you. You think when you're presented with a view that isn't something you agree with that you can just dismiss us. Well, newsflash asshole, Callister loves you a lot and he knows this stupid world you made means so much to you that seeing it fall apart would destroy you. So he's willing to sacrifice himself to keep your head above water. Yet you walk in there and bark orders like you should have been doing in your command center at your company. Instead, here we are, because you let someone take care of a business you should have been running.” Zoe said and started untying Cobb's body from the saddle.

“I'm sorry who's baggage are we dealing with now?” Nathan went over and started untying the body on the other side of the horse. He just met this kid and she rolled out the entire artillery division for the opening volley. _ Goddammit, _Callister really needed to learn how to internalize his issues like a regular human being.

“Mine. My Dad just got shot because you were too busy moping in the woods over the marriage you ruined.” She said and watched the body bag slip off the other side of the horse. “The marriage he told you wasn't going to work but you didn't listen.”

“Funny, I thought he got shot because _you _ran away to get his attention and ended up in over your head.” To hell with this! He was pulling punches too.

“That's because your head is so far up your own ass to see this is entirely a disaster of your own creation.” Zoe shot back.

“Can you get the computer out of my saddle bag without lecturing me about some other grievous offense?” Nathan growled. "Like child labor."

“No.” She snapped back. “Because you and I are getting this hashed out before we go back in the train. Come morning, WestWorld is going to be falling in on itself and we need you to stop hoping that it does.”

“Why, because you're abusing the Wormhole system and causing a rift in the fabric of space-time?” He pulled Cobb off the saddle and slung him over his back.

Zoe looked at him hunched over under Cobb's body and said. “Why wouldn't you just bring the horse over there to make it easier? Why are you so stubborn?”

“Because I like the _horse_ too much.” Nathan grunted under the weight of the robot Sheriff. “I doubt I'll get Cobb in the caboose without tearing a bag. Can you please take the horses to the box car? They'll jump in. Just close the door when you're done, it is lined and protected.”

“They're going to jump?” She asked.

“They're robots.” Nathan said and hissed, “Can you please stop questioning everything I say and just do it?”

“You could try asking nicely.”

“I seriously doubt that would get me anywhere.”

Nathan kept carrying the body towards the caboose and heard nothing but the rustle of the trash bags. Cobb was heavy but it was giving him a chance to think about Zoe Carter, who didn't know him at all, but had no issue blowing up at him. Her issues with him, were Callister's issues, and she was coming at him now because he would never expect this from a stranger. It was a tactical maneuver. _Son of a bitch! _They _planned_ to separate them!

Zoe came back and climbed up onto the caboose and opened the door. “Why don't you just take the bags off now so they don't tear? You have to take them off in the car, anyway.”

Nathan flopped the body onto the caboose landing and then took a moment to breathe and calm down. She was right. “You're right.”

“Oh. Wow.” She said and squatted down to look him in the eye. “You actually do know how to say it. Don't worry we'll get a little more practice before you tell Callister that he's right so it doesn't sound like it leaves such a bad taste in your mouth.”

“How about...” Nathan leaned over Cobb's body. “We go back to your personal headquarters in the Pullman and I tell him right now how impressed I am with his strategy to separate Jack and I so we have to listen to a stranger judge us?”

“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.” Zoe said and booped him on the nose and then said. “Start stripping the body, we don't have all night.”

Nathan shook his head. It was a good plan. Callister always beat him at chess and other strategy games, having watched and learned his moves. Zoe seemed like she was enjoying having the opportunity to yell at a father figure for something.

“Why don't you just ask?” Zoe said as she took a bag off the Sheriff's head. “Just ask want's going on instead of trying to figure it out by yourself? You need a team. You can't do this by yourself.”

“Fine. Why is Kim Anderson an A.I. body?”

“Because that's what you get for selling out.” Zoe said.

“I knew I was going to regret asking.” Nathan said and took the bag off the legs and tossed it at her.

“Let me finish!” Zoe said. “Someone is taking your amazing creation and using it to build a new body for themselves. You strip the identity of the robots to make them just machines, but that doesn't mean someone can't take over their body after the A.I. dies.”

“Nobody else was even close to Callister, they're just hosts.” Nathan said.

“When they leave here, they're going to be hosts for_ anyone _who can afford to buy a new body” Zoe said. “That's what we're trying to show you, Dr. Stark. That spark, that soul, that powers all of our human host bodies....can be uploaded to another body when this one craps out.”

“Impossible.” Nathan said and just gave in to lecturing her on science. “The human consciousness can't be transferred from brain to computer. The brain is far too complex, it is not a machine. That's why it's _artificial_ intelligence. You need a program to tell a computer what to do with it's information, a human brain functions by changing and adapting. Neuroscience is no where near close to even understanding the human brain, how do you expect me to believe they're going to download a person into my robots within my lifetime or yours?”

“Kim Anderson is the evidence.” Zoe answered then added, “Dammit Stark! Rich old people who want to be immortal want to hijack your robots for themselves, because up until now all the money in the world couldn't save them from death. However with AI technology they can have a body of their design, their consciousness transferred into the AI and their life extended forever. That's the reality of what you made and what you're about to release into the world. So are we done arguing over what is scientifically possible while we stand in _WestWorld_ where impossible is reality, or are we going to admit that you made a big _fucking_ mistake?”

“The 1.0 models can't do that and the 2.0s technology is entirely different and still not capable of it.” Nathan said. “So I'm calling bullshit.”

“_You're_ capable.” She said and poked him right between the eyes. “That's what why we're trying to save you because you are more than capable of it. Callister pulled it off because he's _your_ son_._ ”

* * *

“So why the huge scam?” Jack asked as he sat up. It took about two minutes of trying to nap to determine he was not going to be able to do so with so many questions running around his head. “Why not ask for help?”

“Zoe and I agreed that we would have been dismissed immediately by both of you.” Callister said. “Besides, you both need to come to your own conclusions and see this disaster with your own eyes to act upon it.”

“What disaster?”

“My Dad is going to lose everything. including himself.” Callister said. “Everyone is done playing by his rules and it was easier to get him out of the way and deal with the board of directors than him. With Global Dynamics looking to set it's eyes on space with the Astraeus program he divided his already overloaded attention to too many things at once.”

“OK.” Jack said. “So what about your falling out? It wasn't over robots?”

“He considered me a miracle.” Callister said. “When he built me there was something he couldn't replicate with the others. That somehow I was given a soul instead of just a program. A soul, the same thing that makes you a human versus just a body.”

“Which meant the other robots weren't up for the same benefits as you? Is that why you installed the Free Will program?” Jack asked, grasping at straws. He was in over his head now.

“Dad said that turning me over to the government would be the same thing as creating an atomic bomb. Unleashing a horrible weapon. What he didn't see was that it applied to all his other creations too. Do you know what the half life of Uranium is?”

“A long time.” Jack answered with a shrug.

“Well imagine that our host bodies are that uranium and that with the proper programming we can carry within us the minds of the people who want to live that long.”

Jack looked over at him. “Are you saying that you can...be powered by a human consciousness?”

Martha walked over and squatted down in front of him. “I'm the evidence of that. I have within me the memories of Kim Anderson and the programming of Martha.”

“Uh....” Jack wasn't sure where this was going but it seemed like nowhere good. "How?"

“My body was 3D printed from the full body scans from our medical division.” Martha said.

“You mean the medical division run by Dr. Blake?” Jack asked and looked up at Callister. “Your step-Mom?”

“She's my Dad's ex-wife. I was just his assistant and the robots were never human to her.” Callister said. “She's a medical doctor, we are machines. I never interacted with her as more than his assistant, however I voiced my opinions about how incompatible they were to him.”

“So you knew he was divorced too?” Jack said and Callister's eyes seem to light up. “Big secret that doesn't seem to be much of a secret.”

“You are incredibly perceptive for a man with an average IQ.” Callister said.

“Didn't seem to prevent you from hand picking me for this mission of yours, nor as a special friend for your Dad.” Jack replied, pretty sure that was an insult.

“His heart was broken and needed to start beating again.” Callister said and went back to his computer. “He is also blind to everything happening around him and thinks it would be better for Eureka to be reborn from the ashes of WestWorld but that isn't the case.”

“Back to the body snatching thing.” Jack said and looked at Martha. “Someone wants to make bodies from the medical files and import someone else's brain? That's why you had to check and see if Nathan and I were real?”

“Anyone could be easily replaced.” Callister said. “Including humanity.”

“Woah.” Jack said. “That's a big jump. I thought this was about selling robots when you thought they were human and now it's about robots replacing humans?”

“Yeah. Some humans, anyway. Dad didn't see it back then, he saw the limitations of his creations alone and not the amazing technology they were. He saw the beauty of the science, but also how it needed to improve, and others saw how they could use it. I saw it, I can run scenarios to predict moves like that.” Callister said. “Marshall, the fact is with the A.I. technology he made, imperfect as he thinks it is, the powerful can live forever and there would be nobody the wiser. This is why I stole that money originally. That was the funding about to disappear within our government after the trial was concluded, enough money to buy the 1.0 models without having to beg for funding. Just a few clicks to transfer money from one branch to another. From DoJ to DoD for special projects. No begging Congress for money.”

“Let me guess, Senator Wen and Congressmen Faraday?”

“Yes.”

“Nathan knows.” Jack said and waved his hand.

“He thinks they want weapons, they want eternal life.” Callister said emphatically. “I saw this coming and he refused to believe he was capable of recreating the miracle that created me. Others beg to differ.”

“What _are_ you saying?” Jack said. “For a dumb cop like me, spell it out.”

“I'm saying that there is a body of Nathan Stark ready to be printed, just like Kim Anderson was.” Callister said. “Taking his memories and mind and giving it to someone else to use like a puppet. They can't control him so they found a way to take what he has for themselves.”

“Who is they?” Jack asked. This was bigger than a couple members of Congress.

“The Consortium.”

“_Who_?”

“People who think that science can go too far and must be controlled.” Callister answered. “Originally they began as group eager to prevent science from advancing beyond what mankind was ready to use. They wanted to prevent things like the Atomic bomb from being created again. Noble intentions have gone to the wayside and now they are more concerned with controlling advancements and determining who has the privilege of using them.”

“Like?”

“The Artifact.” Martha said.

Jack looked up at Martha...no Kim....KiMartha. “The _what_? What the hell is that?”

“The power source we were trying to harness, the explosion that killed Kim.” She said and sighed. “I have Kim's memories and Martha's analytical power. Combined I have determined it was sabotage.”

“What!” Jack said and looked at them both. “OK, you two are overloading my brain. Remember, I'm of average intelligence?”

“You possess something a computer can't.” Callister said. “You understand people, human motivations and behavior. That is unpredictable even if we can run programs to analyse the statistics. You see things simply, which is something we're not able to do.”

“Thanks?” Jack said at the backhanded compliment. The kid meant it, it's like he envied him. “I'm still confused though. How is playing 'keep away' with the 1.0 bodies a intelligent strategy?”

Callister looked over at him as he looked like he was having a seizure.

“Is that what_ this_ is!?” Jack said and pointed at him. “You and Zoe divided us up so you can play good cop-bad cop on _us_!?”

“You and my Dad are a perfect match, it defies logic. You have very little in common professionally or intelligence wise, yet you have the same basic needs as men.”

“Let's not get into a talk about my manly needs...” Jack said and leaned back in the sofa hoping they didn't have video from Nathan's bedroom.

“Other than determining you were both bisexual and hit the markers of established physical attraction, I did not consider _that _compatibility.” Callister said. “He's still my Father.”

“Ok.” Jack said and was glad to hear that tone of disgust from him. “Not to ruin the moment but...”

“We intentionally separated you to discuss our predicament. There is no time to argue about this and we need your cooperation. Strategically it was our best bet to deliver information while avoiding a condescending lecture about how our omnipotent fathers are better suited to handle this problem. You, with your law enforcement experience, and Dad with his vast intelligence and Nobels and PhDs...”

“Ok, I get it.” Jack said and gave him a thumbs up.

“Zoe also wanted to make sure he could handle a Carter's temper.” Callister said with a shrug. “And that you could handle being talked down to because you don't understand the science of it all.”

“That's kinda..sweet.” Jack said and looked at him. “You have no concerns about me breaking his heart?”

“He likes to argue and be challenged. You've seen through enough of his carefully constructed world to impress him. You are also a peacekeeper, despite your anger management issues you'll come around to want to resolve the issue. Your selfless, he's selfish.” Callister said and added, “I'm a product of my environment and my creator. He ingrained in my A.I. many of his personality traits and flaws. His comprehension of the world was my basis to start from and I think I understand him better than he understands himself.”

“Is that why you had a falling out?” Jack asked.

Callister sighed. “It was time. We argued too much. Over Henry, over the robots, over Allison. I saw what it would take to make his situation better and tried to do that. So I lashed out and set the robots free to show that WestWorld could be their home without taking away from anything other than profit margins. He tried to control me and I felt like we had gone back to him looking at me like an object and a machine.”

“That's just parenting.” Jack said. “Do you understand how hard it is to make a kid see that their actions are...”

“We're not possessions and you are not always right. Do you take your daughter's advice? You you listen to her views or just dismiss them?” Callister interrupted. “Do you bother to look at the evidence she provides or just roll your eyes and declare you know better?”

“Well, I never said I was Father of the Year.” Jack said and Callister went back to typing. “It's not like there is a class or manual for this. We make mistakes but we're never not going to be there for our kids.”

“Well, from where I am sitting you're both about to act out and strike out on your own. Hence the intervention.” Callister said. “You want to handle this on your own, because there is something criminal happening, and he won't let you. He will want to act on Zoe's information, because this is his business and his work at risk, and you won't let him go alone. We need you both because I don't comprehend things like you both do. We need to all work together.”

“What do I do with this?” Jack asked. “I don't know if you want me to arrest him for being a bad parent or marry him so we can be better to our teenage kids!”

“I want you to see what you have to lose.” Callister said.

“Which is?”

“Us.” Callister responded. “Zoe. Me. Dad. Eureka. I think it's time that you and I come home.”

“What?”

Callister narrowed his eyes at him, he was_ really_ frustrating. “Eureka is the one place in the world where you and my Dad can exist without the world pulling you apart. A microcosm, yes, but his idea of a perfect world that I believe should be preserved at all costs. Zoe is at a crossroads and needs you now more than ever. Eureka's a place for both of you to start over. It's also rampant with scientists who need your simplistic views and every-man logic to solve the problems they generate by pushing the boundaries of science. Once WestWorld closes, Eureka will be the forefront of technology in the world and the drive to produce and fund it will only make those problems worse.”

“Right now, Eureka sounds like Atlantis because I still have never seen this utopia of Nathan's.” Jack shook his head. “And as much as it sounds great to have you calling me an idiot alongside my daughter over breakfast every morning, I just met your Dad today and we're a long way from moving in together.”

“I just wanted to give you something to fight for. Something that isn't justice, because that has been your focus for too long. Time to be selfish, Jack Carter. You've raised a great daughter and she wants to be with you so much. I've giving you a solution to your need for a fulfilling job and the family you want.”

“This sounds like a time-share scam.” Jack narrowed his eyes at him. “All I have to do is save the world from body snatching politicians and some weird elite scientist cult and I can have the white picket fence and a naked husband flipping pancakes in the kitchen while I play small town Sheriff?”

“Well, yes.” Callister said. “I would suggest the crepes though, he thinks pancakes are too simplistic for his refined palate.”

“What kind of monster and I dating?” Jack asked. “He has a problem with_ pancakes_?”


	23. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

_WestWorld_

Chapter 23

**The Good, The Bad and the Ugly**

* * *

“Nathan Stark, you're under arrest for crimes against humanity.”

Nathan stopped in his tracks as he entered the Pullman car with the diagnostic computer in hand and raised his eyebrows in shock. As Jack got off the sofa, with the shoulder holster in hand, he wondered w_hat the hell_ Callister told him?

“_Pancakes_?” Jack asked. “You have a problem with _pancakes_?”

“God, Dad, you're going to die alone.” Zoe mumbled as she walked around Nathan and went in to sit by Callister at the computer.

“Your daughter has been lecturing me for _an hour_ and you're in here talking about _breakfast_?” Nathan asked and saw Jack's smile which prevented him from getting too upset. 

“Actually, we've been talking about your robots getting used by bad people to rule the world forever.” Jack said with a shrug and sat back down. “You?”

“Someone's resentment.” Nathan said and brought the handheld device to the desk Callister was working at. “_Someone_ who really needs to stop venting to strangers he kidnaps.”

“Oh?” Callister said. “You mean someone company approved, like _Beverly_?”

Nathan narrowed his eyes at him and heard Zoe clear her throat indicating another lecture was coming if he rose to the bait. Callister really came into his own in the last two years, the sarcasm was funny until it was used against him. "Touche."

“Oh, yeah, what's the deal with her?” Jack asked. “Is she part of the Consortium?”

“Yes.” Callister answered.

“We shut her down.” Nathan said, but it seemed to be a moot point. Just about every precaution he had taken had been easily worked around by the opposition. He had spread himself too thin, as well as his people. Or he had just had a major lapse in judgement after Callister left and things continued to go downhill with Allison. Or the lapse in judgement was how he handled Callister and Ally prior to them both leaving him.

“No, you shut Beverly down, and there was anther consciousness inside of her computer that could not be shut off because it was human. That person powered her back up once she was inside the storage warehouse and then she got to work making 3D printed bodies.” Callister said and looked up at him. "She was the Trojan horse and you brought her right into the city where she wanted to be."

“Shit.” Nathan said.

“So, just like that you accept it?” Jack asked Nathan. “No scientific explanation needed?”

“It's science, Carter, nobody expects you to understand.” Callister said.

“Hey!” Jack said. “No pancakes for you, kid.”

“It why I had to recruit you, Marshall. I needed an outsider, someone who they had no information on.” Callister explained. “If you want I'll explain to you how hard drive partitions work, how computers continue working even when powered off and how unsuited a 1.0 model was for that kind of task.”

“Who is inside of Beverly then?” Jack wanted answers not explanations. That, the kid was dead on about.

“At this point whoever it is has become Beverly Barlow.” Callister said. “I think the person who was imported into her was a pawn, someone expendable. From what I gathered from the program that was set up to import a new person into Kim's body, the Consortium hasn't figured out how to partition the drive in order to keep the two individuals separate.”

“Where is she?” Jack asked.

“Inside the park, somewhere.” Nathan said finally able to answer something. Callister didn't interrupt so he assumed he at least got one thing right. “There is an underground line around the perimeter of the park that will emit a pulse and burn up her CPU if she crosses it. The train boxcar is lined and protected from it, that is the only way to get in or out for the robots. Not many places to hide in it, it's an empty box and it's monitored like Fort Knox.”

“So she could be in Eureka?” Jack asked.

“No.” Nathan shook his head. “She could be in the on-site offices if she was in a contained chamber, but anything inside the EM field around the mountain would render her unable to function.”

“Then how did Callister live there and date the Sheriff?” Jack asked. Probably not relevant but it seemed like there was a loophole.

“I lived in a bunker, basically a fallout shelter.” Callister said. “When I wasn't working at the off site lab.”

“His house was never lived in.” Nathan answered the inevitable question. “It was just for show and backstory. It sat above the bunker so people could visit but he would be safe from the interference in Eureka. I burned the house down when he left, to keep anyone from investigating too much.”

“Why was Cobb investigating you?” Jack asked, the lingering question seemed relevant now.

“I'd be better suited to answer that.” Martha said. “When Callister gave us the Free Will program, it opened up all the locks on our CPU that had been placed to keep us from acting on our own. A human brain learns and grows, but an A.I. brain is limited to the memory and space available for processing. It removed the vacancy with our brains that allowed an import of another mind. We couldn't be hijacked at that point because we owned all the territory in our bodies.”

“So you could fight them off if they tried to brainwash you.” Jack summarized.

“You knew about this all along?” Nathan asked, his face softening. “Callister, I thought that...”

“I didn't and it was.” Callister finished his sentence. “The Free Will program was my way of lashing out at you to make you see what you created and prove my point. I was not expecting to find out that there was a huge conspiracy or secret society waiting to take your work from you. I didn't know until Martha came to me to tell me something was wrong. By then I had already scared the Consortium enough to try and stop me.”

“Martha was immune, why?” Jack asked.

“Because I am a drone first, A.I. second.” She answered. “Dr. Edison created me, the Consortium was only working on decoding Dr. Stark's work.”

“OK.” Jack looked at Callister. “So, you left her here to keep an eye on things and you left to find out more about the Consortium?”

“I left because I was scared.” Callister admitted. “I was scared that if they found out I was A.I. that they would use me against my Dad. I acted, out of desperation, something I had yet to do or comprehend because I had never felt fear. My moves were impulsive, I didn't know who to trust. Martha was determined to defend her home because that was her core programming and I just needed to escape in order to figure out what was going on with me.”

Nathan felt that like a kick to the stomach.

Martha stepped forward as Callister started to cry and Zoe reached for his hand to console him. She explained, “Cobb was compromised, as was Beverly. That meant the law and the wealth of information about residents was now in enemy hands. Deputy Andy had an existential crisis when Cobb and Beverly tried to import a new mind into his, and Cobb had to put him down. Together they spun a story about a robot uprising because of Callister, hoping to use it as a smoke screen to cover up anything the 'Free Robots' divulged to the humans in WestWorld.”

Callister took a deep breath and composed himself. “To avoid having them used against us, to avoid my program from being examined and an anti-virus installed against it...I decided to destroy it and the computers I created it on. I felt it best to destroy the the next generation of robots before they could be brought online because we made them without considering their vulnerability. Imagine watching yourself destroying your friends and family, to be sitting in the back of your own mind watching and listening to a stranger operate your body. It was a level of cruelty I was never able to anticipate even with my mind being cultivated for strategy and outmaneuvering people. So, I decided to use my Free Will experiment to show that there was a hole in the program we didn't account for and I destroyed the 2.0 prototypes so you would have to make them again.”

“And the 1.0 models?” Jack asked softly. “The ones you called to the lab before you destroyed it? Was that a way to humanely euthanize them so they couldn't be manipulated or destroy your program?”

“I did that.” Martha said. “Callister wouldn't take a life like that. I however was intended for surveillance and military use before being put into service mapping WestWorld. I had the resolve to take a life.”

“You freed some friends from the storage freezer though.” Jack recalled.

“Yes.” She said. “With Callister leaving, I needed soldiers. I needed my own counter-agents to monitor the Consortium's progress. I needed first generation models that didn't have the processing power to hold two minds. The 1.0s that died in the fire, wished to die before being used against their home.”

“OK, fuck the Consortium.” Jack said, feeling tears forming in his own eyes as she told the story and Callister cried with Zoe patting away her own tears.

“Dr. Stark, did you want to share with us your evidence from Sheriff Cobb's body?” Martha asked.

Nathan took a deep breath, he felt like his world was swimming around him or maybe circling the drain. “He wasn't hacked. There isn't a program installed on his CPU other than his original program, however he was one of my original models meant for military intelligence. His malfunction was due to a a portion of his CPU being damaged and him reverting to the most basic functions. He was the victim of an A.I. lobotomy, what I would expect would happen if another mind was ripped from his, taking with it the shared functions that made him act human. It's why you were shot, he was reduced to his very fist layer of code which was so simple: seek out threats and destroy.”

“Well, this is not _at all_ what I was expecting when I started this case.” Jack said. “This is horrible!”

“We need to take back WestWorld.” Zoe finally spoke up. “In order to do that, Dad, we need you to find Beverly. She's the key to unveiling who is involved.”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. He had no idea how to do that since he had yet to do _anything _he came here for. He looked up at Nathan who got a dark look on his face and was a little worried about what he would do to her once they got their hands on her.


	24. Tombstone

_WestWorld_

Chapter 23

**Tombstone**

* * *

Nathan lead the way into the next car in order to get Cobb wrapped up and prepped to move. His mind was racing and trying to run through his mental list of people he could trust when Jack interrupted him.

“When are you going to stop lying to me?” Jack asked as soon as they were in the caboose and away from the kids. Nathan was walking ahead of him and stopped as he spoke and he could see his head tilt up to look at the ceiling. Probably not what the guy wanted right now, but he wanted to see what he was made of when he was emotionally worn thin. “I know, up until now, I've been a stranger that you've known for less than a day, but you trust Callister enough to trust his judgment in picking me to help you. So I need the truth, Nathan.”

“I didn't lie to you.” Nathan said and turned to look at him.

“You withheld information when you were allegedly being honest.” Jack said. “That's kinda the same.”

“It's habit.”

“It's going to get us both killed.” Jack said.

“I already felt like an idiot for confiding in Beverly and the information about shutting her down was not relevant.” Nathan said and went over to Cobb. “I wasn't lying to you, the situation was resolved.”

“Or you didn't want me asking to see her and open her up.” Jack said and Nathan slammed his hand down on the table where Cobb was laying.

“If you were in my position, would you so eager to spill your guts to a stranger when confronted with all your mistakes? Are you really that much better than me?”

“No.” Jack said and went over and ran his hand over Nathan's. He was asking hard questions and he wanted to give him a touch, a connection to remind him that they had _something_ here that they both wanted to make more of. “I'd do the same thing. I think we all understood Callister when he said he left because his world was shattered and he didn't know what else to do. However, this isn't my world, so I want to fight for what is right like Martha is trying to do. It's easy because I have no ties to any of this and can look at it for what it is. So I need facts.”

“I don't know where to begin.” Nathan said and put his other hand over Jack's. He had to stop reacting defensively to what were legitimate questions and not unbased accusations. Jack had every right to call him out on this. “I have no idea where Beverly would go because she's not the A.I. we programmed anymore.”

“Then let's look at it this way: what has the most value to the Consortium?” Jack said.

“Eureka.” Nathan said. “You were right, Jack. With me out of the way it would be business as usual and the people here would be none the wiser. They wouldn't care as long as they could keep working.”

Jack looked at Cobb. “Do you think Cobb was out to get us? Was reverting him to his original 'seek and destroy' programming the intention, was that what the Consortium was after when they ripped out his human hijacker?”

Nathan sighed and thought about it. “I think it was killing two birds with one stone otherwise they would have just destroyed Cobb entirely.”

“Speaking of killing birds, “ Jack looked back to the door to the Pullman. “Martha has some things to answer about why she went to _his_ cabin, and shot his leg off, when she shot down those birds.”

“Not really.” Nathan said. “She wanted to disable him, send a message to his conspirators that she had Kim's body and that they were on to them. Maybe force their hand. Except she was clearly too late because someone already pulled the human out of it's container. She left Cobb there as evidence for us, I don't think she expected he would hobble after you and shoot you.”

“A message.” Jack said recalling that damned dog. “Cobb gave Lo-Jack a message and the dog ran off. Who does that dog answer to?”

“Nobody.” Nathan said. “He used to go to Cobb to relay information about anomalies but that ended when he retired. Taggart became his handler and I think Lo-Jack enjoys screwing with him.”

“He was at Cobb's cabin.” Jack said.

“Cobb _was_ an anomaly.” Nathan reminded him.

“We need to find the dog.” Jack said. “He has a message from Cobb, who 'no longer answers to you' or anyone else. Could that message be a situation report if he's reverting to army intelligence mode? He decided to come after me and knew he wasn't going to survive, but he wanted what he knew to get to the right people. Who did he used to report to?”

“General Mansfield of the 1st Oregon Cavalry Brigade.” Nathan answered.

“The cavalry. Any chance they're going to give us a warm welcome?” Jack asked.

“Not likely.” Nathan rubbed his eyes. “Especially if Cobb sent a distress signal.”

“Maybe the dog didn't deliver the message?”

“Cobb just had his leg shot off and Martha used a laser to blast down Taggart's geese. I think Lo-Jack might be on his side.”

“Let's go to Taggart first and see if he can rein in Lo-Jack.” Jack said. “The dog might have some way to find Beverly.”

“Have you forgotten _you've_ been shot?” Nathan asked.

“Well, then get out some wormholing device and shoot us over there.” Jack said and then pointed at him. “Oooh. That's not a bad idea.”

“Actually, it's a terrible idea.”

“We will never find Beverly in time and the Consortium isn't going to allow itself to be that vulnerable.” He said. “However they want something we have.”

“Endless questions?”

“You.” Jack said and rubbed Nathan's arm. “They want _you_ and the old robots and I think we need to use that. We need to use you as bait.”

“Great idea. Then we can both be shot.”

“They don't want to kill you, they want to suck out your brain and put it in an A.I. body they're keeping warm for you.” Jack said and Nathan looked at him shocked. Apparently Zoe left that info out. “Don't worry! I want you more and if I suck your brain out it's going to be something you enjoy.”

“Did you help yourself to more drugs?” Nathan asked as Jack smiled and stopped him from marching back in the command center and asking about this new body of his. Well things were worse than he thought and there was a reason Callister had Jack relay the message. 

“No, I'm working.”

“This is you working?” Nathan asked. “Wildly jumping to a connection with just one word association? Kinda flirty?”

“Yeah. I was in investigative and interrogation mode before, now I'm in 'let's get that son of a bitch' mode.” Jack explained and could feel Nathan relax under his touch. 

“Seems against Marshall Service protocol to use the target as bait.”

“It is.” Jack said. “However witness protection detail has allowed me to see the advantage of being on the defensive. Listen, we'd be easy targets. I'm wounded, you're on the run without access to any of your technology and we haven't reached out to anyone as far as they know. The Consortium is looking for their warehouse and Callister has them occupied for the time being. Which, by the way, is what he's doing with the computer, right?”

“Donovan and Fargo are the only ones capable of going toe to toe with him and he's got the advantage in having worked on the system from the beginning as well as never needing to sleep. They're making mistakes, he's got them under control.” Nathan explained. He didn't need to ask Callister what he was doing, he'd be doing the same thing if he was in his position. Callister was better suited for it. They probably assumed Zoe was helping him, as they had no clue Callister was a robot.

“We also need to lead the enemy away from the kids.” Jack said. “Martha has to stay to protect them.”

“So we need to give them a warehouse.” Nathan said and suddenly smiled as he reached for the T.R.A.S.H. bags to wrap up Cobb. “Let's show them Warehouse 13.”

“Well that will make Taggart happy.” Jack said and took the bag to help put Cobb in it. 

“Eh. Probably not. I've been letting Carl Carlson use the injured animals as test subjects for his cellular regeneration research. Robots or not, Taggart isn't a fan of that kind off research.” Nathan said and then smirked. “Carlson will take Cobb's demise pretty hard, I think we can use that to our advantage.”

“That's...a little cruel don't you think?”

“You haven't met Carlson.” Nathan said. “Besides, he may be a good lead to find Beverly. If she's still out there then he's still eager to see her.”

“Everyone thinks she's dead.” Jack said and then realized what he was doing. “Awww, Nathan....you can't use this guy for bait just because you don't like him.”

“Sure I can.” Nathan said.

“You said Cobb picked him up for work everyday. How did he do that if he was a robot and not allowed in Eureka?” Jack asked.

“You're so suspicious.” Nathan said.

“You're so devious.”

“He picked him up at the train station and took him to work.” Nathan said. “By helping him into a clean, sealed stagecoach that took him to his destination.”

“So Cobb knew where his warehouse was.”

“This was prior to the bridge device and prior to the discovery of Warehouse 13. Jack, can you focus on our current problems instead of every narrative we've had up until now?” Nathan begged. "You've really been bombarded with a ton of non relevant information in order to overwhelm you."

“This is how I get a feel for people and form questions.” Jack said.

“Or you're trying to catch me in another lie.”

“Look, it's easier to be the villain than to be the hero. I get that. These people fear but respect you. They need to fear something because they sure as hell don't fear renegade robots, wormholes or laws of nature. Might be good for business but it's a pretty lonely life. I guess I understand you, even if I don't get the science or business plan.” Jack shrugged. 

“Thanks, Jack.”

“You need their help, Nathan." Jack said. "Unfortunately when you scare the shit out of everyone, you're going to have to swallow your pride a little and ask for help.”

“Not with Carlson.” Nathan said and shook out the bag and laughed. “He'll jump right through a wormhole as soon as we turn our backs and be in his house, on the phone to headquarters immediately reporting the situation. Cobb dead, me slinging his body on the table and demanding answers and you an actual government authority figure looking to hold someone accountable; he'll either be dematerialized on the way to Eureka or demanding someone come protect him in his house.”

“See, this is what I'm talking about! We're not sacrificing some guy you don't like!”

“His choice.” Nathan shrugged. “And my choice is to tell you that if we are going to open ourselves up to being targets we are going to strike fear into my entire organization while we do it. From the dumpster in the basement all the way to the top, because you are very right when you say people fear and respect me. They think I'm omnipotent and not a damned one will call my bluff. So let's see who panics when they think we're coming for them.”

“This was not my plan.” Jack said.

“Well, I have the most to lose here so we're going to use mine.” Nathan grinned at him.

“What if the Consortium has infiltrated your entire company?”

“Then there isn't much we can do and I would rather know what I'm up against.” Nathan said and kissed Jack . “Sometimes you have to destroy everything in order to move on. You were right when you said I was hoping WestWorld would destroy itself. You have no idea the insurance payout on a place like this.”

“There is _so_ much wrong with that.”

“I'm kidding. It's only a liability policy.” Nathan said and ran his finger over Jack's cheek. This guy was going to stand by him until the very end and he sure as hell didn't deserve that. “However, the Artifact explosion that killed Kim _didn't_ destroy the Artifact. I had to bury it deep down in Section Five of our on-site offices. It's under Eureka. It's why there is a crater where Eureka sits.”

“Nathan...” Jack felt his gut churn as Nathan's voice got soft and sad.

“I can destroy this place.” Nathan said. “And _I will_ if someone is trying to use it all for their own gain. What we have here is meant to make the world a better place and not hand it to a select group of people who want to watch humanity act out their narrative the same way we watched the robots here act out ours. When this is over, I'll let you tell me if that makes me the villain and you alone will have the right to turn me over to the government to be held accountable. I hope you'll see that this is my redemption arc, that you've made me see that the power I've horded has set up this scenario to happen.”

“You'd destroy it? Everything you worked to build?” Jack asked incredulously.

“There are safety protocols in place to get everyone evacuated. If that's your concern.”

“No, It's actually an overwhelming loss even if the people who created all this will be saved and can recreate it.” Jack said, he didn't even know what was in Eureka and it sounded like destroying the library of Alexandria. 

“Its an overwhelming loss if all this is in the hands of a select few who want to determine what the entire world is allowed to have. Humanity will never catch up.” Nathan said. 

“Isn't that..sort of what you are doing here?”

“Global Dynamics markets advancements when the world is ready for them. We saw, during the clean up phase after I purchased this land, how terrified industry and government was of what we were accomplishing. It was at that juncture I determined there was a need to hide what we do and secretly disperse it, otherwise we would be a target of industry and business leaders who only saw profits.” Nathan ran his hands over Jack's face. “I can start over. Callister showed me that when he destroyed the 2.0 models. I was furious and betrayed....but I came back with a better product. If I get an 'I do over' than this marriage of science and business will be done better.”

“So the destruction of the place is a last resort, right?” Jack asked. “If we Butch and Sundance off a cliff and we've lost...”

“Last resort.” Nathan assured him and kissed him and placed his forehead against his. “I want more than anything to give you a tour and show you everything I have accomplished. I want to show you Eureka. I want to show you that this park is just the tip of the iceberg and we have so much more under the surface.”

“Like..the super destructive Artifact that can level the place?”

“It's a fail-safe and I don't fail.” Nathan said and felt Jack relax.

“Alright Nathan, we go with your plan.”

“Plan on breakfast at my house.” Nathan said and kissed him. “And I'll show you why crepes are superior to pancakes.”

“Pretty cocky.”

“You like my cock.”

“That's going to be great when we're cell mates in a federal prison for setting off some kind of bomb under a populated town in rural Oregon.” Jack said and saw Nathan smirk. “Yeah, I help you with this and I'm going down with you.”

“You're exceptionally skilled at that.” Nathan reminded him.

“_With you_.”

“Mmmm.” Nathan ran his finger over his lips.

Jack grinned. “Is this you_ working_?”

“This is me working _with you_.” Nathan replied. 

“I like it.” Jack said and kissed him and then whispered in his ear. “Don't stop.”

Nathan shuddered a little. Yeah, Jack was definitely worth fighting for. The Consortium had no idea who it was dealing with now that he had so much to fight for. 


	25. Got to Know when to Hold 'em, Know When to Fold Em

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last update this decade. :)

_WestWorld_

Chapter 24

**Got to Know when to Hold 'em, Know When to Fold Em**

* * *

“If we ride east about half an hour there is an old railroad cart in a shed by the water tower.” Nathan explained as Jack clung to him once more, having to ride behind him to manage the horseback ride with his wounded shoulder. This time it had been easier to get on, as he used the train platform to assist him.

“One of those cart things with the see-saw propelling system?” Jack asked with amusement in his voice. “You think _that's_ going to be easier on my shoulder?”

“It's motorized, like everything here.” Nathan said with a smile. “The horses can follow along. The railroad tracks head to the old bridge over the river that goes into Eureka. We can take it to the bridge and ride into the valley to Taggart's ranch.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty good at this sort of thing.” Nathan said and realized the ride, without drugs involved, was going to give them a lot of downtime to talk.

“I don't doubt it.” Jack said. “_Believe it or not _I'm actually really impressed with you even if I feel like we might be on the opposite side of things in most circumstances.”

“I expect we will be, however you're the first person in a long time I have been able to work with this easily.” Nathan took a deep breath. “It's been a long time since I felt compelled to kiss someone while I was working.”

“I'm irresistible.” Jack said and rubbed the shoulder holster that Nathan had put on again for their new adventure. “I'm usually against having sex with someone who is part of an ongoing investigation. Guess you are just exceptional, Nathan Stark.“

“You're not like anyone I've ever met, Jack Carter.”

“You either don't get out much or you run with the wrong crowd.” Jack said and ran his finger up and down the shoulder holster leather, teasing with both his voice and fingers.

Nathan shook his head. He liked how easy it was to talk with Jack, his humor somehow keeping the conversation from getting too heavy versus making light of a situation. He was also an absolute tease and he would appreciate that a lot more when they weren't working against the clock. “Looking like the later.”

“I see this a lot in my line of work. People focus on the prize and then when the drive for that stops you turn around and see the destruction in your wake. It takes a good person to see that and feel remorse. A bad person sees that and sees what they can get away with.” Jack said.

“What does that say about me when I tell you I'm both?”

“That most people fall in the gray area between black and white and it only matters what you act upon?” Jack offered. “What's this really about, Nathan? It feels like you're trying to warn me about something.”

“I guess I have my concerns about you sticking around for breakfast.” Nathan said honestly.

“Well, we went from first meeting to hours of sex to bringing down a global science cult in less than a day. I know you're thinking, that emotions run high in times of crisis and when it's over and things go back to normal...well you realize that you took chances you wouldn't have because the outlook wasn't that good. Live while you can, sort of thing. Well, that's true, but neither one of us has lost sight of who we are and what we need to do. I thrive in crisis and I think you enjoy the challenge as well. So this thing of ours... is something I want to pursue. I see people at their worst and at their best during chaos and I've learned that you see who people really are when all hell breaks loose. I like what I see, every damned inch of it. I meant it when I said you've good heart.”

Nathan felt a finger roll under his vest again and had to laugh. “That's my _nipple._”

“Yeah? You're going to have to get naked again and teach me all about anatomy.” Jack said and rested his head on Nathan's shoulder. “_Doctor_ Stark.”

“Taggart will probably be naked when we get to his place. Maybe he'll give you a lesson if you ask?” Nathan teased back.

“That's not funny.” Jack said and groaned. “I've already seen him naked enough. I don't need another viewing.”

“What's your deal with Taggart?” Nathan asked. “You had no problem with me being naked.”

“It's his fuzzy balls.” Jack replied then corrected his terminology. “_Furry_ balls.”

“That's his B.A.L.L.-S.A.C.”

“I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure I know what a ball sack is.” Jack mumbled.

“B-A-L-L” Nathan spelled it out with a grin. “S-A-C.”

“Did you win a Nobel Prize for spelling too?” Jack said and took his finger away from his nipple. “I know what a ball sack is and I'm kinda surprised Dr. Science uses that layman's term.”

Nathan laughed. “It's _an acronym_. Ballistic. Armor. Leisure. Layer. Scrotal. Applied. Camouflage.”

“I'm sorry..._a what!?_”

“Brilliant really.” Nathan said as he felt Jack react. Surprise him was a delight in itself, he reacted to everything with his entire being. He grinned. “Taggart wanted something that combined the need to blend in _with_ nature while remaining _Au Naturale_.”

“You're screwing with me.” Jack said. “His balls looked like they were covered in a mangy rabbit fur.”

“Micro-filaments, which could be mistaken for hairs.” Nathan answered. “It's actually a film that slips right on...”

“Wait.” Jack said. “It's a camo layer _just on his balls_? Now I know you're lying! That makes no sense!”

“I'm not lying.” Nathan said and had to laugh because Jack was taking this so poorly. “The micro-filaments bend light and act as an invisibility cloak.”

“It projects this invisible shield from _his crotch? _You might need a refresher course on anatomy too because there are a lot of appendages in the way of his scrotal projector screen.” Jack said and would have let his hand slide into Nathan's crotch if he wasn't concerned about falling off the back of the horse. Yeah, this guy had his mind permanently in the gutter. Maybe he was telling him this bullshit just to provoke him into touching him? Seemed like the kind of guy who would just ask for a handjob instead of inventing some ridiculous story about a device that was on some other guy's furry balls. Nah, that was clearly the best way to ruin the mood which meant... "Are you serious?"

“Yes.” Nathan started giggling.

“Nathan.” Jack said in a warning tone as he had a flashback to that visual display of Taggart's _device. _There was no way for it to project or reflect anything from where it was located. Nathan_ was_ full of shit. 

“I'll ask him to show you.” Nathan cleared his throat. “It's powered by static electricity.”

“Nathan!”

“It's a prototype so he'll be more than eager to peel it off and let you try it out for feedback.” Nathan continued despite Jack's protests.

“I am never having sex with you again.” Jack finally said and took his hand away from the holster.

“Now who's lying?” Nathan shot back.

“I don't understand science but none of this makes sense!” Jack said. “Who the hell would make that kind of thing?”

“Who is going to frisk you there? You can easily turn it on by just fondling yourself and who is going to suspect _that_ as a way to turn on a cloaking device? Your eyes are drawn to someone's genitals anyway, best place to get blast with...light.” Nathan tried to remember the other explanations for it's application location and failed. He opted to just go with his normal board room power statement of, “This will _revolutionize_ camouflage and cloaking, it's nothing like this world has ever seen before...or _not seen_ as the case may be.”

“So Taggart's going to go in front of a bunch of Army guys, naked, and rub his ball sack while they watch and then he'll just disappear?” Jack asked incredulously. Then gave it a second and realizing that it did _seem_ plausible from what little he knew about the guy. “_You're_ going to stand in front of them with a straight face and talk about the science and advantages of Taggart's B.A.L.L.-S.A.C?”

“Yes. Especially after we use it to save WestWorld.” Nathan said with a smug smile “We actually need it to approach Warehouse 13 without being detected. You'll get to see it in action.”

“Then it's a good thing Taggart likes to wear it and has an obsession with the warehouse.” Jack said and shook his head. “Calling it now: Not. It.”

“Oh, is this you ending the conversation?” Nathan asked, unable to hide the amusement in his voice.

“Yes.” Jack said emphatically and put his head back into Nathan's shoulder, trying to bury his eyes in his back to chase away the images this conversation stirred up. That wasn't camo, it was roadkill. 

“It's incredible technology.” Nathan continued, not wanting to let the conversation die just yet. Jack being amused and bantering with him made him feel good. A feeling he didn't want to let go just yet. Plus he was rolling his head around in his back and that felt good too. “Are you sure you don't want to know more about it?”

“Who named it?” Jack asked seeing what Nathan was trying to do. Fine. Of all things they could talk about it seemed like it wasn't that bad. This was somehow Nathan's world and he was at least curious about that.

“I think it's already been established that I have no idea what is going on with my company at this time.” Nathan said with a smirk and then added. “We're going to take down the Consortium with Taggart's B.A.L.L.- S.A.C. and that's all you need to know.”

Jack finally started laughing and then it hit him. “Oh god, it's _statically_ charged!?”

“Indeed it is.”

“Son of a bitch!” Jack said as he realized the 'incredible technology' would have to be rubbed to be activated and maybe to keep it activated. He would just leave that surprise for later. _He_ was going to have to see that, not some random army guys in some boardroom somewhere. _Him_. Goddammit! Even Nathan's amazing shoulders wouldn't press that image out of his eyes!

“There is a protective layer insulating all sensitive parts from any electric charge.” Nathan chirped then added in his best Taggart impersonation. “And a cooling feature to make sure all his little swimmers are kept functional, while having a fur exterior to prevent frostbite.”

“For someone who has no idea what's going on, you sure do know a lot about this guys S.A.C.” 

“I review patents applications and active projects daily.” Nathan assured him. “I just don't get involved with naming them.”

“Wow.” Jack said and wiped his eyes. “Just when I think I have a handle on this place, I touch your nipple and you start talking about Taggart's balls.”

It was Nathan's turn to laugh and he had to put his hand over his eyes to wipe away tears. He hadn't laughed like this in ages and it was amazing that he was able to do so while his life's work hung in the balance.

“I still hate it, for the record.”

“It's a prototype.” Nathan reminded him. “Once it goes into advanced R&D it will look less like rabbit fur and more like human skin. More like the AI skin our robots have. It's a style choice made by it's creator.”

“Of course it is.” Jack huffed. “So that's your plan? Send Taggart out into the desert rubbing his balls and have him break into Warehouse 13 and stun Carl Carlson into silence when he stands in front of him naked. Then bust in the door, leading a horse with the dead Sheriff on it and demand answers?”

“Usually I only have to glare at people for answers, but the Consortium deserves a little more than that."

“Except this Carlson guy is getting the brunt of it.” Jack reminded him then asked, “What's your deal with Carlson?”

“He refuses to take risks unless I threaten to take away his job.” Nathan shrugged. “I call it motivation.”

“I call that _horrible._”

“He pulls through at assessment time with something that keeps him employed another year. _Every_ year.” Nathan could feel himself tense as he thought about it. “Plenty of other places he can work if he truly has a problem with it.”

“Except they won't let him take a dangerous wormhole to work so he can avoid people.” Jack said.

“Precisely.”

“He_ is_ the experiment.” Jack said with annoyance.

“Like I said, _his _choice.”

“Yeah, we're going to definitely butt heads a lot.”

“You like it though.” Nathan grinned confidently. “As do I.”

Jack said nothing, he wasn't wrong. He set his chin on Nathan's shoulder to watch where they were going and enjoy the novelty of this new very comfortable relationship he was now in. Under normal circumstances it would have taken months, if not years, to reach this point in any relationship and he was thankful he didn't have to endure that. This felt good, it felt right and he didn't realize how much he craved this intimacy. Then rode in silence, not because it was awkward, but because this would be the last time for a while that they could catch their breath. The water tower was visible now and Jack knew it would be time to stop clinging to Nathan soon, so he enjoyed each last precious second before they had to change to a different mode of transportation. 


	26. Lonesome Dove

_WestWorld_

Chapter 26

**Lonesome Dove**

* * *

Jack felt a little bad about watching Nathan do all the work to get the rail-cart ready, but only a little. Nathan moved like an athlete when he was doing physical labor and that was a stark contrast to the looming CEO who was more interested in intimidation than demonstrating his abilities. Jack was pretty sure there was a Sun Tzu quote out there that applied to this situation, but he was too busy reveling in the fact that _this _super smart and athletic dude was eager to make him breakfast and show him around his home town.

Or, rather, the town he made out of nothing with the help of some ominous power source explosion.

The town he was willing to destroy if things didn't go his way.

_So_ Nathan kinda had a dark side to him that went a little deeper than the roots of those adorable dark curls on his head. That was not out of line with what he had expected when he first arrived in WestWorld, he just wasn't expecting to _like it _as much as he did. He could rationalize it on a business level, thanks to the many articles he had read on Nathan prior to coming here, but he wasn't expecting to _understand_ him at all on a personal level. Now he saw they weren't so different in how they approached business: he too could be an asshole when he was working. He'd assume authority, assume superiority, push for answers he wasn't entitled to have, and generally not care who was outed if they were indeed doing something wrong. He cared about people though, he wanted to help and he had empathy and wasn't out to destroy lives...he expected people to operate within the boundaries of the law. It really always came down to “You knew it was wrong, but you still did it.”

The gray area.

An area he tried to avoid because it was a slippery slope where law enforcement was concerned. It was his job to enforce the law, not question it. It wasn't a case by case basis, it was about a law being broken and not why it was broken.

And here he was, taking sides. Here he was falling hard and fast for a guy who readily admitted they were going to be on opposite sides of things a lot. That shouldn't send tingles of excitement down his spine and throughout his belly, and he was concerned by his reaction to that.

He trusted his judgment, he trusted the evidence that Callister and Zoe had presented to them, and he trusted that Nathan was doing what he considered to be the right thing. He wasn't sure he could trust himself. So he focused on what was really bothering him right now and decided to say something about it. He was not sure what chasing some scientist thru a wormhole and triggering a mass panic within the Global Dymanics Corporation was going to yield, other than a lot of people getting hurt. That was what was _really _bothering him now; people being expendable. “Hey Nathan?”

“I leave you alone for five minutes and you get serious on me again.” Nathan could hear it in his voice. So he finished wiring the railroad cart so that it would fire up and prepared to quell any concerns Jack had. 

He hated himself for ruining that joy they had fifteen minutes ago, when they were bantering and laughing over some horrifying new camo technology. When he was more than content to wrap his arm around Nathan and rest his head on his shoulder and look at the beauty of the old west beside the most beautiful man he had ever laid eyes on. Probably because he knew he'd be best to savor it before he ruined it. “Sorry. Work-mode engaged.”

“I thought _work-mode_ was you being flirty.” Nathan said and looked over at him as he sat on his horse and waited for the railcard to get prepped. “Did I need to take off my shirt to do this?”

“I mean... I won't protest.” Jack said. “I was enjoying watching you push that thing around while the horses and I watched you do the work you didn't have to: Muscles, straining against those leather straps of your holster while you're bathed in moonlight and sweat.”

Nathan had to laugh. If they made it through the night, they were going to have a lot of fun together. “No time for skinny dipping in the river, Jack. Pencil it in for later.”

“Oh, I already have.” Jack said. “Which is why I'm slightly concerned about you shoving a heavy metal cart around and pulling a muscle I might have use for later.”

“Around here you never know what someone tinkered with.” Nathan said and wiped some sweat off his brow. “I wanted to keep everyone safe in case this had been picked over by someone who didn't want to submit a requisition form. You'd need the horse to get out of here.”

Jack decided to leave it at that, it was very thoughtful of him. He didn't want to know what powered the cart but it probably was as dangerous as the mysterious Artifact. He also stopped caring when Nathan walked over and looked at him, arms outstretched to help him off the horse. He decided to confess what he was thinking about. “Just was thinking about our situation and whether or not you've compromised me.”  
  


Nathan rested his hands on the saddle horn and cantle and sighed. He suspected this was going to be a thing with them. “What's the verdict, Marshall?”

“It bothers me you're going to just sacrifice Carlson and label it 'personal choice'.”

“You haven't met him.”

“Stop saying that!”

“He'll be fine.” Nathan said and then thought about it. “Probably.”

“Probably?”

“Do you want me to get into the mathematical explanation of statistics or are you comfortable with me telling you that the probability is good for him to survive the wormhole jump?” Nathan asked.

“If you use your sexy scientist voice.”

“I...”Nathan cleared his throat. “My voice isn't sexy all the time?”

“There is this dreamy deep tone you get when you talk about science.” Jack said. “It's really hot and kinda pure?”

“And we're back to flirty Jack.” Nathan said and slapped as much of his ass as he could get to from the back of the saddle. “Let's go to Taggart's so we can kill that buzz.”

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that ballsack rubbing plan of yours for a few minutes.” Jack said as he slid off the saddle and into Nathan's arms again. “I can't wait to read about all this in your autobiography.”

“You think....I'm going to give away all my trade secrets in an autobiography?” Nathan asked incredulously.

“Well, once all those are redacted what is left?”

“You. Me. Naked.” Nathan said and lightly kissed his lips. “Except you're stalling and asking too many questions in an effort to avoid seeing Taggart naked. So get on the cart, and let's get rolling. I'm getting pretty excited to see what your reaction is to me scaring the ever living shit out of whoever had betrayed me.”

Jack moaned a little as he thought about that. It meant to come out as a 'mmhmmm' but just turned very erotic as he thought about Nathan being a force to be reckoned with.

“Trust me.” Nathan whispered. “Even in your wildest fantasies you can't imagine what I'm like when I'm _truly _pissed.”

“OK. You've corrupted me. Definitely going to be having some vigilante style fantasies about you from now on.”

“Good.” Nathan said and walked him over to the cart and lifted him up onto it. “Tell me about those over breakfast or indulge while we ride the rails to the bridge.”

“Nah. I'm going to take a nap.” Jack announced and laid down on the cart and looked at the star filled sky.

“So you're the type to fall asleep on car rides, huh?” Nathan finished tying the horse's reins on the saddle horns so the wouldn't be snagged. Then he lifted himself up on the rail-cart and sat beside Jack. “Or are you bleeding to death and not telling me?”

“I'm thinking too much.” Jack admitted. “Worried about all the wrong things. Going over things that have already been mulled over. Been shot. Been drugged. Been up too long. I want to be a little more focused if we're going to storm your headquarters. I need to be the Marshall _you're_ going to fantasize about.”

“Good idea.” Nathan said and bent down to press a kiss on Jack's forehead. “Dream of me in that vigilante fantasy of yours.”

“Best damned date I've ever had.” Jack said and kissed him on the lips. “I hate that I'm really enjoying this and looking forward to outing some bad guys and taking back your company.”

“Good thing I have a lot of enemies, huh?” Nathan winked and stood up to take control of the cart, the see-saw mechanism being the forward-reverse shifter.

“Not..really.” Jack said and Nathan bent down and put his hat over his eyes so he could get some rest. His first whiff of the hat smelled like Nathan's unique shampoo, not like sweat or wet wool felt. That was _not_ going to help his dreams at all and he wasn't sure he cared. As the cart got moving, he nodded off.

* * *

The trip to the bridge was uneventful. The ride to Taggart's quick. They were on a mission and covering serious ground, until the last ten feet of their journey.

“Stop avoid this.”

“Stop pushing me!”

Nathan shoved Jack anyway-- right up the steps to Taggart's cabin. “He's _your_ friend.”

“He's _your_ employee!” Jack hissed back. “You approved this device! _You_ should be the one to ask him to stroke it and show it to Carlson!”

“You're the charismatic one.” Nathan reminded him. “You've charmed everyone that works for me and charmed _m_e right out of my pants. Get up there and do the same with Taggart.”

“Everyone hates you and this is why.” Jack said and reluctantly knocked on the door to the cabin. “I guess that makes it my job to ask for help on your behalf.”

“Makes us a good team.” Nathan said with a shrug and leaned against the porch support. Jack was feisty and read to go again, the guy made the most out of a twenty minute nap.

“Taggart was my deputy first.” Jack informed him.

“You think _I'm_ the sidekick?” Nathan asked.

Jack grinned at him and knocked on Taggart's door. “_I'm_ the US Marshall and this is _my_ investigation.”

“I'm also a suspect you slept with.” Nathan reminded him and watched an adorable pout form. “Which, by the way, I haven't forgotten about that comment you made back at the cabin; the one about an instructor who teaches a class on fast gun draw and sleeping with witnesses.”

“Yeah, I got good grades too. Maybe not good enough for a PhD, but good enough for the US Marshalls.” Jack said and stuck out his tongue at him.

“I was referencing the fact that it was implied you got first-hand instruction on the 'sleeping with witnesses' part.” Nathan narrowed his eyes at him.

“Are you jealous?”

“I'm wondering if I have some competition.” He replied honestly.

A man of perfect timing, Taggart answered the door—naked. Jack cleared his throat. “Hey Taggart! Up for a _were_house hunt?”

“Marshall!” Taggart said with a grin and then looked at the man leaning on the support pole for his porch. “Dr. Stark! Well, _what a surprise_.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. That grin said that he was _not_ surprised and the elbow nudge at Jack hinted at the reason he wasn't surprised. One thing to accept that they were going to sleep with each other, another entirely to expect he'd be persuaded to help the Marshall in his quest. Well...maybe not. He was good at this part, the initial wooing...it was the rest of it where he failed miserably. They were all well aware of how far he would go to make Ally happy, clearly they had expectations of a red carpet being rolled out for Jack too.

“Looks like you get to go with us to Warehouse 13!” Jack announced with a smile.

“My maps helped?” Taggart asked, a huge grin on his face then that grin faded as he saw Carter's arm in a sling. “What did you do to your arm?”

“Cobb shot me.” Jack said and leaned against the door. “Any chance Lo-Jack came to you with a message from him?”

“Haven't seen him.” Taggart narrowed his eyes and saw a lump in the saddle on a horse on his front lawn. “Where's Cobb?”

“He's in the T.R.A.S.H. Bags.” Jack said and then added. “I shot him back.”

“God, this is going to take all night.” Nathan said and stepped up on Taggart's porch. “Can we come in? I'll brief you and then we need to get into the warehouse and initiate a lock-down at GD in order to find out who is involved in this Consortium that is trying to horde knowledge and tech for themselves.”

“You're going to war against your own company?” Taggart asked, excitement in his voice.

“To flush out the traitors. Yes. You in?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good.”

Jack huffed as Taggart disappeared inside and Nathan with him. So...Nathan was more direct. That wasn't always the best route even if it worked right now.

“Jack? Are you coming or do you want to stay out there and pout?” Nathan called out in his amused tone. “This is _your_ investigation, after all, remember?”

Jack went inside and noticed Taggart had already disappeared, hopefully to get pants. Nathan was grinning at him, enjoying showing off his own approach to getting things done. Then he played with his hand a little and said those horrifying words.

“Taggart! Carter wants to see your B.A.L.L. - S.A.C. again. Show him how it works. We're going to need it to approach the warehouse.”

Jack heard an excited yip, Taggart more than likely reacting to the opportunity to model and show off his creation. So he walked up to Nathan , who's grin was purely sinful, and whispered, “Never, _ever_, having sex with you again.”

“Jack Carter, I will make you beg for it if you keep threatening me with that.” Nathan bent forward and kissed his upper lip, sucked it and then let it go. In that moment he swore to himself that this time...this time would be different. He wasn't going down the same road he went down with Ally, because Jack was not her. He wasn't going to have a choice because Jack was more demanding than Ally had been, demanding answers and getting them. She had simply thrown up her hands and got mad, Jack liked the fight a little too much to walk off. This...could work. He wanted it to work. Just needed to save the world first, then they'd celebrate. Then he'd figure out how to move Jack to Eureka. “On second thought, keep it up. I'm going to enjoy that.”

“You two argue like an old married couple.” Taggart said as he came back into his living room, sporting his S.A.C. “That was fast.”

“You haven't been around a lot of married people arguing, have you?” Jack asked and then saw it...saw the hint of fur as Taggart stood in front of them. He grabbed Nathan's arm as hard as he could and said, “Oh. _Oh God!_ I hate you.”

Nathan smiled and patted Jack's cheek. “Best. Day. Ever. _Remember_?”

“You have found the location of Warehouse 13?” Taggart asked.

“I know where it is.” Nathan said, not taking his eyes off Jack as he chose to stare at him instead of look at Taggart.

“We'll need your invisibling device to get into the warehouse. “ Jack said and waved his hand to indicate he was talking about the S.A.C. “It makes you invisible, _right_?”

“Well, not as well as I'd like. I've been modifying it and I have to say the T.H.O.N.G holds more promise as a true cloaking piece, but I haven't given up hope on this one.” Taggart said proudly.

“I don't want to know what _that _stands for.” Jack said before anyone could inform him.

“Your loss.” Nathan said and felt that grip get tighter. He turned to look at Taggart who was about to demonstrate his device. “What modifications?”

“Due to it's placement....” Taggart pointed his hands down to his crotch. “I am having some issues with the micro-filaments getting the right light exposure. It requires bending and a lot of movement, works best when performing a hand stand. As you can imagine, being statically charged, that presents issues with dexterity.”

“Why not put it on your head? The S.A.C. skin, that is.” Jack asked and let his grip on Nathan's arm relax. He couldn't help but be intrigued by this conversation because he never got to talk with the designers of tactical gear. As weird as this stuff was, it evidently could end up in use somewhere. “Ever hear, 'Put your hands on your head?' in a cop show? It's pretty universal. Maybe that would give a better...place to scratch?”

“Get shot faster, mate.” Taggart said. “A suspect starts rubbing his head and you're going to get suspicious, right? You watch him closer. Well, if the suspect disappears right in front of your eyes someone might just start shooting at the place the guy was last seen. Bang! Dead. This is camouflage not armor.”

“I though 'armor' was part of the acronym.” Jack asked.

“B.A.L.L. is the main program. Subtle and undetectable armor that can be worn everyday without detection.” Nathan said. “S.A.C. is Taggart's contribution to it.”

“There is _more_?” Jack asked.

“Classified.” Nathan shrugged.

“Of course it is.” Jack said.

“What's the modification, Taggart?” Nathan asked again.

“I couldn't get the results I wanted, so incorporated a bit of Henry's old tech.” Taggart squinted at Carter, not sure what level of security he had even if he was sleeping with the boss. So he kept it vague “The, device...that Jason Anderson used?”

Jack watched Nathan's face, his best indicator at this point for detecting what might be wrong. He couldn't tell if the reason why his smile faded was because of 'the device' or the name 'Jason Anderson'. “Any relation to Kim Anderson?”

“Her husband.” Nathan answered. There was no point in keeping the information from Jack. “Ex-husband.”

“_So_ does he still work here?” Jack asked and Nathan caught on to the fact that he was trying to lead the conversation again. He got a frown and he wanted to apologize for the conversational habit, but could only offer a shrug instead.

“No. I fired him after we caught him taking credit for Kim and Henry's work.” Nathan answered and felt Jack's hand squeeze his arm. Jack was so quick to see a potential threat, so he didn't waste time in answering the question that was on his tongue. “Certainly does seem like he would have experience and motive to steal technology from GD, I can't answer if he's involved.”

“Martha can.” Jack said. “She has Kim's memories, she has Kim's _body._”

Nathan licked his lips. “Anderson's device was a short term memory wiper. Something Henry had developed years ago, that he stole. Then he stole the memories of Henry's relationship with Kim and married her himself. Jason used that device repeatedly, after every one of Kim's breakthroughs, to claim the victory as his own. It was only here, in early WestWorld, that he couldn't steal the recorded memories of the A.I.s. We caught him because he had no idea how far along my prototypes were. Cobb arrested him, actually.”

“Oh, this is not a coincidence.” Jack said. “And I'm doubting Kim's death was a coincidence either, since Martha said she determined it was sabotage.”

“The Artifact explosion...” Nathan sighed. He did not want to get into this in front of Taggart, but he was an ally. Like Jack had said, it was going to be time to stop scaring people and start accepting help. It was time to start accepting blame too. “Was my fault. I pushed too hard and too fast and it literally blew up.”

“Maybe if it was present day, when everyone was working solo on their own research and hiding out in warehouses and cabins and the like....but that was at the beginning. Before Eureka. Before WestWorld was open. It was a power source you wanted to power Eureka.”

Jack was so fucking perceptive. “Jack...”

“You worked as a team.” Jack said and pulled on his sleeve. “Maybe one or two people overlooking some major safety issue, but _a team _of geniuses? The ones who built this place? No, I seriously doubt that. I agree with Martha, this screams sabotage. If someone wanted to divide you and cause a rift to form between all of you...the best way to do it would be to blow up a huge project like that. You wouldn't leave because a friend and colleague was lost creating this project, none of you could walk away when there was a sacrifice like that. To honor someone, you see their dreams to reality.”

“Jack.” Nathan said as a warning before he kept going. That was _not _the crime they were here to solve.

“Nathan!” Jack snapped with more authority than he wanted, but it got the point across. “I interviewed a lot of people on my way to your door. Your former friends, all are bitter and pissed at the way you strayed from your path, but they still believe in you. Henry still wants you to be happy, he hopes I can bring you back around to where you used to be. You're all scattered all over the park, until now. Even you know they would have your back or you wouldn't be so confident on kicking in the doors at GD and hunting moles. So yeah, I think someone deliberately blew shit up to send you all separate ways so they could create a vulnerability. So work with me here. What are we dealing with with this guy Anderson?”

“If Jason Anderson recreated his wife using a 3D body printer...” Nathan said and narrowed his eyes at Jack, while he concentrated on the new information. “The memories, in that body, are hers. The ones Jason stole from her. Pieces of her, out of context, that is why Martha is struggling to manage them.”

“Is he trying to bring his wife back from the dead or trying to bring back her brain?” Jack asked, trying to feel out what kind of villain this Anderson guy could be.

Nathan considered it all and shook his head. “He conned a lot of people, but I don't see him being able to pull off something like this. He stole his ideas, he is a fraud. He could comprehend but not produce them. He's not the mastermind of a worldwide organization trying to harvest information from GD but he would definitely know how to take and distribute them. He didn't work in front of a lot of people, he worked with Kim and when she made the breakthrough he'd zap her with the memory wiper and present her work as his own. He holds a lot of patents, he is a world renowned genius and although I fired him, I could not provide evidence of his acts without making the memory device know. Removing his only way to harvest the answers was the only way Henry and I could come up with to punish and stop him.”

“So nobody knows what he did except for a select few at GD?"

"Correct." Nathan said. He never expected that to come back and bite him in the ass, but it was what it was.

"Cobb caught him, _who_ tipped him off? I can't imagine Cobb had a lot of interaction with your core staff in the beginning.” Jack asked and Nathan's eyes told him it was Callister. Made sense, Callister was Nathan's assistant and would have been around everyone. If he got memory zapped it wouldn't have affected him but Anderson would have thought he was human. It also made sense Cobb went after Callister when he was controlled by the Consortium as they would have memories of that tip off. _Huh_. With Taggart still standing in the room listening, he didn't blame Nathan for not wanting to talk about his son, but he was wondering if someone figured out Callister was more than just an assistant. “Never-mind. We need to concentrate on our task at hand which is getting into Warehouse 13 and I'm not sure how a short term memory loss projector coming from Taggart's crotch is going to help us get past security in order to do that.”

Taggart watched them both turn and look at him, expecting an answer. He grinned and said, “You two make a great couple.”

“Thanks.” Jack said. “Can you sneak up the warehouse and get in there before Carlson jumps through a wormhole?”

“I mean...” Taggart thought about it. “Would it really be _that bad_ if Carlson...”

“Yes!” Jack said and elbowed Nathan as he sing-songed a 'Told you' in his ear. “Yes. It would be _bad_ to scare him into wildly jumping through space-time just to escape us.”

“It's his choice...” Taggart said.

Jack glanced at Nathan and saw a smug and oddly sexy 'I told you so' look on his face. He huffed and said, “Can we please just go to the warehouse now?”

“Ok, Taggart. Let me see the specs and run me through the functionality of the device so we can adapt it to work in this situation.” Nathan said, finally getting down to business.

“Right-o”

Jack watched Taggart disappear and took a moment to comprehend what just happened. “You...you never intended to send Taggart out there naked while doing a one armed handstand...”

“That would be ridiculous.” Nathan said. “My company is on the line, I don't have time for his Aussie acrobatics.”

Jack took a deep breath as Nathan cracked a smile. He felt conflicted on whether or not he wanted to hit him or admit he was a little bit in love with the guy already and kiss him. He was interrupted from his internal conflict by Taggart's reappearance and him holding a hand full of B.A.L.L.-S.A.C and some paperwork. That made up his mind. He definitely wanted to hit him.


End file.
